What is the concern with silver amalgam dental fillings?
“Silver” amalgams are over 50% mercury, and mercury is a heavy metal similar in characteristics to lead. A growing group of doctors believes that mercury toxicity may be at the bottom of many of the chronic health ills in this country. Several European countries have outlawed silver amalgam fillings. In California, dentists using mercury-containing materials must post signs notifying the public. Mercury’s health effects have been known since the early 1900s in England, when hatters went “mad” from mercury exposure and became known as “mad hatters.” It seems odd that so much attention is paid to the health effects of lead, whereas mercury is hardly ever mentioned. We worry about the paint on our walls, yet mercury is put in our teeth. Go figure. In some studies, the levels of mercury vapor in a person’s mouth were higher than OSHA standards after ten minutes of gum chewing. Hair analysis often reveals elevated levels of mercury in a person – though I have been told by a physician that s
