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Sticking to the dental topic, is there a consensus on Amalgam fillings ?
I have several which were done years ago, I often wonder what effect they could have had !
( I am not particularly inviting negative comment but I don't mind a joke )!
Not having dental coverage I unfortunately avoid dentists until absolutely necessary, however,when I have seen a dentist and asked about amalgum filling /mercury , I have always been told not to worry ! Of course, this statement by itself is not sufficient, and I often wonder as I am sure do others, just what the truth of the matter is !
Alan M
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Alan, Having read your post with interest, regarding amalgum fillings, I find that there is very little I can say on the subject ( as you do not wish to court negative comments). It is obviousl
y a matter of concern to you. Suffice it to say that research has shown that patients that have had amalgum fillings replaced show improved health patterns after six to nine months.
Jim
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Spitfire, thanks for your reply, and I don't really mind any comments you have to make, I was only pre empting the usual humour one can often expect when leaving ones self wide open to criticism.
You may well be correct, I've been considering having all the fillings removed for years, certainly had I known what I know now, I would not have had the fillings.
I would appreciate knowing the source of the research that you mention as today I looked up 'amalgum fillings' on the internet, again no concesus !
Alan M
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Alan:
My wife was a dental assistant for many years. Her take on mercury amalgam fillings is that as long as they aren't disturbed, they aren't a hazard. When they were being placed, they sure as hell were, but that's past history.
I still have 5 or 6 amalgam fillings, but have had the others replaced by fiberglass/porcelain. After I retired in 1998, I lost my dental insurance, so everything after that has been out of our retirement income. We both should really have additional work done, but it's very difficult to justify spending your own money if what's in place is adequate.
Frank Damp
Frank Damp (wife Eileen, nee Nixon)
Leyland resident 1941-1965, emigrated to the US in 1968,
retired to Anacortes, Washington State, USA in 1999.
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Re amalgam fillings. The removal of amalgam fillings actually releases a huge dose of mercury into one's mouth, so is not to be recommended unless the tooth needs further treatment or one has a medical problem which can be proved to be caused by amalgam fillings. Long-standing amalgam fillings are pretty stable and don't release much in the way of toxins.
I would not have one of the white filling materials inserted into any of my back teeth as they are just not as hard wearing as amalgam. Front teeth, where cosmetics plays a bigger role, are a different matter, but then front teeth don't need to take the brunt of chewing. But white fillings are not available on the NHS for back teeth anyway.
Of course the ideal solution is not to let one's teeth decay in the first place ] Tooth decay is totally preventable by limiting sugar intake to three or fewer occasions a day.
Re fluoride. Over-dosage of fluoride can cause mottling of the teeth if taken while they're developing. The mottling is usually white or pale brown, not black. Fluoridated water will not cause mottling unless a child is also ingesting fair amounts of fluoride toothpaste too - a pea-sized blob is all that's needed. (So forget what you see on the toothpaste ads - that line of paste they put on the brush is to encourage you to use up more of their product!)
No need to eat humble pie, William! I knew you weren't having a dig, just expressing what could be a valid opinion, were it not that Northern teeth are so poor that even fluoride won't put any dentists out of business!
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Alan, In reply to your request, you may like to try :-
www.yourhealthbase.com/amalgams.html
As someone who spent all of his working life in the electrical industry, I was amazed to read that a tooth with an amalgam filling adjacent to a tooth with a gold crown(dissimilar metals)would become a battery when connected by citric saliva (the electrolite). This in turn would give rise to great pain - producing several hundred milli-volts! The things you learn on the web!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jim
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Many thanks to Spitfire,Frank and Linda for the information on amalgum fillings, It seems that I 'm in the same situation as Frank, finding it difficult to spend money on dental work when it's entirely possibe that keeping the fillings is adequate. I would however feel more comfortable with them removed without disturbing the fillings, the question then becomes, 'what are the options for replacement' ?
I don't fancy doing as my father did, ie. taking the set of teeth out each night and steeping them in Chlorus !
Alan M
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There is no doubt amalgam is not an ideal material and if it was invented today, it would most likely fail to gain a licence, but it is one of the best materials we have available. The white fillings (composite resin materials) are not as hard wearing and have problems of their own - some studies show they give off oestrogenic substances. It's not quite so bad that you gents with a lot of white fillings would suddenly be singing higher pitched, but white fillings do release chemicals - that doesn't just apply to amalgam.
Dentists do have to exercise care not to set up electrical circuits in the mouth. There was one tale (poosibly apocryphal) when I was a student of a guy who had a gold inlay at the bottom and an amalgam filling at the top and when he bit together he could pick up Radio 1 - what a nightmare!!!
Options for replacing teeth in increasing order of expense:
Acrylic denture
Metal denture
Bridge
Implant - warning, current UK prices for implants exceed £1,000 - £1,500 per tooth - heavens alone knows what they cost in the States!
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This is all very interesting information,thanks -since I am likely to be dragged to the dentists in Yorkshire in the next two months!
Seem to remember my twin sisters- in -law in about 1953? both having all their teeth out before they were 21 as it was free on the National Health till that age and what's more the false ones were implanted immediately..
Maybe after all they were wise but we all thought it was a pity to have healthy teeth out at the time.
I on the other hand persevered and tried to keep mine over many years and have a mixture of fillings -some dating back to Grundy in the 40's only recently causing problems.
LG
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My brother told me last night that he'd been to the dentist recently for the first time in 15 years (Shame on him!) and only needed a scale and polish. Hopefully you'll be equally as jammy, Lady G!
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