Dental Amalgam Mercury Fillings

Dental Amalgam Fillings, sometimes called “silver amalgams,” are actually half mercury. They are a time-release poison, a major source of mercury to those who have them. DAMS stands for Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions and it is a non-profit organization based in Minnesota, in the United States, educating the public on mercury amalgams and other ways that dentistry may affect health.

This web page version is dated December 17, 2009. www.amalgam.org is a historic web site on the mercury amalgam issue, first set up in March 1997. More content and more links are being developed.

The DAMS information packet, the DAMS periodic newsletter, Dental Truth, and the books and DVDs that DAMS sells all provide information on dental amalgam filling (“silver fillings”), crowns, root canals, gum disease, fluoride and other important topics. On the subject of dental amalgam mercury fillings, we describe the symptoms of mercury toxicity, safe amalgam removal, choosing suitable replacement materials, and safe, natural detoxification including alternatives to the drug approaches. Many toxins can be found in crowns, bridges, dentures and in the mouths rinses and jell treatments that contain fluoride. Root canal treated teeth are dead teeth and are therefore prone to infection – infection which can be very toxic and hard to get rid of because there is no blood flow into a dead tooth. Such “root canals” have been linked to cancer and other chronic illnesses. The patient may want to consider extraction of such teeth, but extractions also merit some discussion; tooth extractions must be done properly and thoroughly in order to avoid leaving infection behind in the jawbone, a cause of jawbone disease. Jawbone disease is fairly common but is often overlooked and is rarely diagnosed. Jawbone disease (also jawbone “cavitations”) may cause facial pain, and may cause or contribute to a weakened immune system, and many of the same neurological and auto immune diseases that infected root canalled teeth and toxic metals may also be a factor in.

Is there a cover-up of these many dental – health hazards? It appears so. We understand that the dental industry and the American Dental Association (ADA) dismiss these many health concerns and many of us view their dismissal, their claims of amalgam safety as dishonest and a cover-up. We don’t know what the ADA’s inner thinking is, but behaps the ADA feels that, since it has defended and promoted the use of mercury amalgam fillings throughout its entire history, it could not survive if it were to admit that it has been wrong over the last century and a half, as mis-informed and harmed millions of people, including its own dentist members, some of them seriously, through its cover-up. Most of the media also participates in cover-up even though, based on the science and the clinical record, the cover-up should be over and amalgams should be banned in the USA. We note that amalgams have been banned in Norway and Sweden, so it is possible for the truth, and a responsible public policy, to triumph in a functioning democracy. Unfortunately, here in the USA the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appears to be captured by the ADA, and remains in cover-up mode. No matter how much damning science is presented to the FDA Dental Division and how many case reports of patient injury are presented, FDA remains in a state of denial and cover-up of the hazards of dental amalgam fillings.

Non-profits to the rescue. DAMS is a tax-exempt educational non-profit organization helping educate people in the US, Canada and elsewhere on these very important dental-health issues. People who wish to get their dental amalgam fillings removed should find knowledgeable practitioners who can remove amalgams safely, with elaborate precautions to protect the patient. Such knowledgeable dentists are not merely “mercury-free” or “cosmetic” dentists; they should be “holistic” or “biological” dentists, meaning that they pay attention to the effects that their work has on the whole person and on his/her underlying health. We must emphasize that it is very hazardous to have mercury amalgam fillings replaced by a “regular” (i.e. conventional) dentist who does not have the training and equipment to replace the amalgams with elaborate precautions. DAMS maintains a list of holistic (biological) dentists in every state and province who are trained and equipped to replace amalgams safely. Hopefully they will also use better choice replacement materials, use natural, less toxic approaches to gum health and decay prevention (no fluoride) and be aware of the hazards of root canal treatments. To request a list of knowledgeable practitioners in your state of province, please call DAMS at 651-644-4572.

Please e-mail us at DAMS@usfamily.net Please leave your name and full address on the DAMS voice mail or with our person who answers the phone. . We normally mail out the list (or lists) with our information guide. Please accept our info guide, read it and study it. It has a wealth of information and helps make you a more informed dental patient. It discusses in detail the dental amalgam mercury issue and other ways that dentistry may affect health. To talk with a DAMS staff person, you may also call 651-644-4572. You may be surprised that a real person will answer. There may be additional information that can be supplied in your information packet that helps address your special questions.

To read more scientific details on mercury, amalgam and their health impacts, please go to our web site www.flcv.com/indexa.html. This is one of the largest, most detailed web sites on the hazards of dental amalgam fillings, with hundreds of scientific abstracts and references.

The information packet that you are being mailed and the information that you are being given on the phone are provided at no charge; but a contributions is requested. DAMS is a very caring, generous non-profit organization; no one is denied help on the basis of lack of money. But please look for a donation envelope in you packet, with a reply strip and donate what you can to keep the work of DAMS going, so it can continue to help you and others. You may also join DAMS as a member in order to receive the DAMS newsletter, Dental Truth, on an ongoing basis. (Ask for a sample newsletter in your packet, if you like). Memberships are normally $25 per year, and less for low income people. Contributions to DAMS are tax deductible.

Please remember, whether calling us at 651-644-4572 or e-mailing us at dams@usfamily.net, to provide name and full mailing address in order to receive the info guide and our list of holistic dentists in your state; and, if you need a call back, leave your phone number, including area code, and speak slowly in giving your phone number.

.