I had the pleasure of being interviewed on the TV show and podcast Know the Cause hosted by Doug Kaufmann. It was a lot of fun. Here is the clip that aired Tuesday and a screenshot of the show that was posted on YouTube.com yesterday. During this segment Doug and I talked about dental materials like mercury amalgam fillings and the toxic materials in composite fillings. We also talked about how to remove these materials safely from the teeth so that you are not exposed to heavy metals like mercury and BPA from white fillings. The reason why this is important is that mercury is a know neurotoxin and BPA is a known hormone disruptor. Both substances are listed in the State of California’s list of toxic substances.
Here are a few questions and comments from the show with a little bit more added by yours truly:
Doug Kaufmann: Dr ORielly, let’s get started with what my audience wants to know. I’ve got some mercury in my mouth that a dentist, in 1958, put in my mouth. Am I going to die of a cardiovascular event or get Alzheimer’s from that mercury? Is that a good thing or a bad thing and can I leave it in or should I get it out?
Dr ORielly: First of all no amalgam fillings should be in the mouth that long. Yes, definitely, you should get those fillings replaced with something else because the longer mercury amalgams are in the teeth, the weaker the teeth become. The metal is very unforgiving and cracks the teeth over time. That’s why so many crowns or caps needed on teeth, because the metal fillings were too big or were left in too long.
As far as toxicity mercury is a known neurotoxin and is released in very small amounts during your daily chewing. However, over the course of time combined with other sources like fish, for instance, it can build up in the system, which is not a good thing. Everyone has different ability to deal with toxicity, depending on their immune system and ability to detoxify, but the moral of this story is don’t wait till it’s too late and you begin suffering from some neurological condition that there is no cure for. Detoxing the body of toxins like mercury should be one of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle.
Doug Kaufmann: Yep, now some people are having those out, Dr ORielly, and having composites put in, but I’m worried about BPA and other plastic composite material. Do you worry about that?
Dr ORielly: Yes I do. A lot of my patients are MCS or multiple chemically sensitive so they can’t tolerate metals for instance, and some of them can’t tolerate plastics or chemicals like monomers, or the Bisphenol A in composites.
So first, you want to use composites that don’t contain those chemicals in them. There are a few that don’t contain them. You have to know which those are, of course, but most of the holistic or biological dentists know the differences in the materials that they are using.
The second thing is, it’s important how these old fillings are removed during the dental work. If you are doing a new filling or crown and need to remove metal fillings or old composites, you don’t want to be exposed to the metal or BPA in those fillings while it’s coming out of your tooth. There are special protocols that aren’t difficult to prevent the exposure while the drilling is being done.
Doug Kaufmann: Is that on your website, Dr ORielly, these protocols, did you publish those on your website?
Dr ORielly: I speak about this at seminars and conventions, and there are also pictures on my website that show the rubber dam for instance, which protects your mouth. It’s like a raincoat over the tooth, so while you’re drilling on it, none of the metal gets into your mouth or is swallowed for instance. You don’t want to swallow metal like mercury.
Doug Kaufmann: Certainly. Thank you, Dr ORielly, for being with us today.
Being on this show was so much fun. There will be other segments airing during the month of November and I will let you know as far as I can ahead of time in case there are some of you that want to stay current on how dentistry affects overall health.
Thanks for listening,
Dr. O
Carey ORielly, DDS
Carey O’Rielly DDS has been a practicing dentist for 35 years. He went to USC Dental School and Duke University for his undergraduate degree. He grew up in Laguna Beach and now lives in La Costa with his wife Victoria, who runs his office.
He began his career by owning and operating a network of six offices in the San Francisco Bay Area. Presently he owns a private holistic practice in North County San Diego’s Encinitas.
Dr. O started looking for solutions to his health challenges that resulted from the stress and environmental toxicity that built up over a ten year period running his dental network. He has dedicated himself to learning about oral systemic problems and how dentistry can affect your health. He has applied what he has learned over the last twenty years to ensure he, his staff and his patients are protected from the chemicals and toxic materials found in most dental offices. He has produced an environmentally friendly office that is also peaceful and calm.
He is an expert on dental materials having looked at hundreds of biocompatibility lab tests over the years. He has identified the most bio-friendly materials to use in his practice and which dental materials can be used to replace metal fillings and crowns, including BPA free and fluoride free ‘white’ fillings. He also uses metal-free Zirconia or ceramic implants and PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) grafting materials which come from the patient’s own blood.
Dr. O’Rielly teaches C.E. courses on the systemic effects of gum disease. He is an expert in using phase contrast microscopy for analyzing dental infections, where he shows patients what kind of microbes, i.e. bacteria, amoeba, and yeasts like candida are populating the mouth and affecting the body as a whole.
He has an educational blog and is writing a book on dental health called ‘Hidden Dental Infections: Healing Root Canals and Infected Teeth with the Erbium Laser’ where he discusses dental nutrition, toxic dental materials and the effects of old root canals on inflammation and overall health.
