The Tribune greenlighted several articles about mercury and health, including this one.
Are Your Teech Toxic?
The mercury in 'silver' fillings would be hazardous waste in a river----yet it's sitting in your mouth... A professional musician from Arlington Heights suffers from mysterious rashes and lip blisters. A dental hygienist in Hoffman Estates battles migraines. And a social worker in Prospect Heights is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.All three tried treating their ailments using a controversial method: by having dentists remove and replace their so-called “silver” amalgam tooth fillings, which contain about 50 percent mercury. And all three swear they experienced life-changing health improvements
Their personal testimonies are part of what makes dental amalgam, the silver lining for hundreds of millions of American mouths, one of the most divisive issues in dentistry. Though it's one of the oldest materials in oral health care--used by people of all ages for the last 150 years--anti-mercury groups are pushing the startling message that mercury residing in the mouth can leach into the body and cause illness.
...
anti-mercury groups are appalled by the notion that the toxic element, which is considered a hazardous waste by the Environmental Protection Agency, is safe when it's packed inside a tooth. They argue that although it was once thought to be inert inside the mouth, studies now show that mercury can be emitted in minute amounts of vapor and absorbed by the patient through inhalation and ingestion.At Doctor's Data, a Chicago lab that specializes in trace-metals analysis, clinicians have found that the amount of mercury in a person's stool is highly correlated to the number of amalgams in the mouth.
...Dawn Quast, a dental hygienist for Dr. John Rothchild in Hoffman Estates, decided to have four small fillings replaced after she witnessed both small and profound improvements in Rothchild's patients who had amalgams replaced.
“I had a migraine the night I had the last silver one removed and haven't had one since [in 12 years],” Quast said.
Rothchild, a mercury-free dentist, said he doesn't push people into having silver fillings removed.
“I never promise any medical cures because you can't,” he said. Instead, he presents both sides of the issue on his Web site and provides patient referrals. “If people come in asking about amalgams, I'll tell them,” he said. “If they're there for basic dentistry, I don't say anything.”
see Consumers for Dental Choice, www.toxicteeth.org for more info
D got the mercury removed from her fillings about a year ago, at John Rothchild's office. I had my teeth filled in Canada, so don't have mercury, as far as I know.
