What do health conscious people need to know about non metal fillings like composites? Here is a quick rundown:

• Whenever possible avoid metal (especially mercury) for restorations like fillings or crowns
• Use composites (white filling material) that have no BisPhenolA or ‘BPA free’ for short
• Use cements for crowns that are BPA free and floride free
• Use home care hygiene products that are alcohol and floride free and don’t contain any toxic additives
• When possible use PRF (platelet rich plasma) vs traditional bovine bone grafting
• Consider Zirconia vs Titanium Implants

Keep in mind that most dentists use materials that have the best physical properties without giving much thought to what is in those materials or what affects it might have on the body as a whole.  Besides, thousands and in some cases millions of dollars are spent researching these materials.  As far as the dentists are concerned, they figure if materials are put out by the dental manufacturers, researched and approved, they must be safe.  The manufacturers put out sheets for every dental material listing what it contains, so if you have any questions, ask your dentist for this sheet called the MSDS which stands for the materials safety data sheet.

The second problem is that most dentists and dental organizations think that materials like mercury and floride are perfectly safe to use in dentistry, and in fact in the case of floride, are even good for you.  Keep in mind that there are no studies showing systemic exposure to floride is safe.  The floride used in dentistry is a byproduct of industry, essentially a waste product that would cost a lot of money to dispose of properly.  So what a great idea it was for industry to hook up with the dental industry and use this toxic waste to fight tooth decay.   I happen to believe that floride does reduce tooth decay, however it causes serious problems in the body, not the least of which is weak bones subject to sheer forces, i.e. hip fractures.  I will write a separate post on floride in the coming months.

Most dentists don’t think much about the ramifications of toxic elements in the materials they use because they were not trained to.  There are not very many courses on biocompatibility of dental materials in school or out.  Second they don’t see the possible toxic effects of the materials they use.  Dentists are a good bunch and really do care about their patients.  However, the majority of their focus is on your mouth and making sure that they keep your teeth and restore them with the best, longest lasting materials available, not the healthiest ones.

In other words if that happens to be mercury amalgams then so be it.  The truth is that everyday levels of mercury in the body rarely creates a health crisis and the symptoms are vague enough and general enough that they are easily missed and associated with other conditions.  Symptoms like flushing, nervousness, ticks, night sweats, mental fogginess and sluggishness, and other neurological symptoms.  This is by no means all the symptoms associated with mercury but it gives an idea of how easily it might be missed.  Because of this mercury levels are rarely tested for or identified as a possible problem.  No red flags go up and so dental materials are almost never considered.  This is a shame as we are exposed to these materials for years, decades and sometimes our entire lives.  No one has dies from toxic dental materials, at least that can be easily proved.  This is of course good and bad.  The good news is that the majority of people can deal with slight to moderate levels of stress and toxicity.  However, there is a certain percentage of the population that are affected by dental materials and some people that are incapacitated by them.  Don’t wait until you are older to think about these issues or do anything about them.  By that time it may be too late to do anything about it or reverse any damage done to your health or immune system.