The Health Hazards of Amalgam Silver Fillings
Article #T100, Sept 2004
My Mercury Amalgam Filling Story
I believe I know as much about amalgam fillings and their relationship to chronic mercury poisoning as anyone on this planet. But I wasn’t born with this knowledge, nor did I get it by lying on a beach in Hawaii. At one point in time, I was as ignorant about this subject as anyone. I’m not talking about high school when I thought I knew everything. I’m talking about when I was in dental school and should have known or at least suspected, but didn’t have a clue that amalgam fillings are the leading cause of chronic mercury poisoning. In the story of how I changed from one of the most ignorant to one of the most knowledgeable and I'm sure you will discover that we have much in common.
Chronic Mercury Poisoning: Ignorance Isn’t Bliss
When I was a child, my parents, my friends, their parents, and just about every other human being knew nothing about amalgam fillings being a source of chronic mercury poisoning. To be sure, dentists knew mercury made up 50% of the filling. Some were even aware that that mercury is a poison. The problem was that since no one told us that mercury was released from amalgams, we didn’t even consider it. No one seemed to care, except a very few enlightened beings who kept challenging the American Dental Association’s (ADA) position that “mercury amalgam (silver) dental fillings are not a health hazard.” Over the years I’ve heard that ignorance is bliss about 10,000 times. But when it came to mercury amalgam fillings, neither my parents, or our dentist’s ignorance would ever result in bliss. Even without knowing I was being poisoned, my dental experiences were so negative and painful that I swore that once I left home I would never go to a dentist again. With that happy thought and about 20 amalgam fillings in my teeth I ignorantly moved on with my life. It wasn’t long before found myself in dental school. How ironic, when I had a thousand painful reasons not to be in the same room with a dentist, that I became one.
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