remove mercury fillings from teeth? what are the pros and cons?

[urquie]

my dentist isn't a big supporter of having mercury fillings removed (has no plans to do it for himself). he's more than willing to do it to help use up my flex spending though :)

i'd love to hear the pros and cons of having this done.

are there any precautions that should be taken during removal? my dentist said he just uses a rubber damb. do i need an "expert" to do the job? tia!

[octmom]

I am by no means an expert, but I was once told (by whom I canot recall) that the process of removing them can actually allow the mercury to get into your system more than just leaving them in place so that unless a filling was failing in some way, it was better to leave it alone. I do not know if this is true, but maybe someone who knows better can chime in with some reasons why it is or isn't true.

I have a few that I would love to have replaced with today's "tooth-colored" fillings, purely for aesthetic reasons.

Jerilyn
DS, 10/03
DD, 3/06

[bubbaray]

I had it done, even though my dentist thought it was riskier to remove it than to leave it in. I kinda disagree, b/c they DO remove amalgam fillings when they wear out, KWIM? I didn't have a ton of them to remove either.

And, FWIW, my dentist now pretty much routinely uses non-amalgam fillings. Maybe I converted him, LOL!

I'm happy I had it done. The non-amalgam fillings don't last as long and they have to check them regularly, but it looks a lot better, that's for sure.

HTH

Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: c/s 01/2007

[Moneypenny]

I know someone who had hers removed because she was concerned about the mercury. Mercury will get into your system during the removal process, so it's important that you undergo chelation to combat that mercury exposure. She went through a whole routine of filling removal and chelation procedures that went on for weeks.

Susan
mama to my cutie pie, Avery
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[sdbc]

I taught dental microbiology back in grad school...

More mercury gets into your system during removal than would get into your system by keeping the fillings for the rest of your life. It is generally considered unethical dental practice for dentists to recommend removal.

Personally, knowing what I know, I will never get another amalgam filling, but I won't get my old ones removed.

There are no pros of having this done.

Sue, mommy to Aurora (Rory) born 5/13/04

[brittone2]

I have a few small amalgam fillings on grooves of my teeth, but not on the chewing surface. I've considered having them removed in the past, but won't do so until I'm at a time in my life when I'm not TTC, pg, or BFing. You wouldn't want the extra mercury burden on your system particularly during those sensitive times, and chelation during those times wouldn't be a good idea.

[Dee150]

Some years ago when I was reading up on this, there were mentions of using a rubber dam to prevent the mercury fillings from entering your system. I guess they basically put in some kind of barrier at the back of your tongue... sounds uncomfortable, but if you just had to get it out....!
There was also one person (don't remember if he was a Dr.) who had an article about how cilantro leaves steeped in hot water (measurably?) removed the mercury from his system, while he was ingesting it...Seems low tech enough, but I'm sure its not very "researched".
In any case, I had had mercury fillings removed years back, and I didn't know then to take any precautions. If I knew then, I probably would wait until I'd had my kids to do anything.

I need to set up an appointment too- we also need to use up the FSA balance! Have you thought of an optometrist for help with the FSA?!