This filling material appears silver in color, giving it the nickname “silver fillings.”
One FDA report states:
“The average filling has 1 gram of mercury and leaks mercury vapor continuously due to mercury’s low vapor pressure along with loss due to galvanic action of mercury with dissimilar metals in the mouth, resulting in significant exposure for most [people] with amalgam fillings.”
It continues and gets better (by better, I mean a lot worse): (4)
“Mercury vapor is transmitted rapidly throughout the body, easily crosses cell membranes, and like organic methyl mercury has significant toxic effects at much lower levels of exposure than other inorganic mercury forms.”
Amalgam fillings have been used for over a century. So what’s the problem? According to a plethora of scientific data, these amalgam fillings leach dangerous, toxic mercury into the bodies of everyone who has them. According to scientific research, both acute and chronic mercury exposure can cause adverse health effects during any period of development. In an ideal world, children as well as adults would never have any mercury in their bodies because this heavy metal provides absolutely zero physiological benefit. (5)
The effects of mercury-laden fillings are also very cumulative. So the longer you have amalgam fillings, the more mercury you likely have in your system.
Dangers of Amalgam Fillings
The Mayo Clinic states that a small amount of mercury (two to 20 micrograms a day) is released from an amalgam filling whenever it’s mechanically manipulated, such as by chewing. Chewing gum is one of the worst things you can do if you have amalgam fillings because it releases an amount of mercury “greatly above normal.” It also says that the normal flora present in our mouths changes some of the mercury into other forms, like methylmercury, which have been shown to be incorporated into the body’s tissues. (6)
So mercury vapors released from amalgam fillings increase with any type of of mechanical manipulation or stimulation. What does stimulation mean exactly? Think chewing, as in chewing your food, chewing on some gum or grinding your teeth. But stimulation can also come in the form of heat or dental procedures, such as a tooth cleaning.
With simple stimulation that occurs every day in a person’s mouth, the dangerous, toxic mercury vapors released increases. Do you ever drink hot tea or coffee? This simple, enjoyable indulgence raises the temperatures in your mouth, which is yet another cause of increased mercury vapor release. Ever get a piece of meat that’s a bit tough or pop a stick of gum in your mouth? This agitation again increases the mercury vapors released into your mouth, which then travels through the rest of your body.
Mercury exposure, both in one large dose and through low-level exposure over time, is linked through scientific data to kidney, brain, urological, fertility, neurological and renal problems. These problems are even more severe in children and developing fetuses.
One 2013 article written by Dr. Jonathan B. Levine talks about the conflicting research that has taken place in Sweden and the United States. In Sweden, several studies demonstrated that when people with pre-existing neurological and health issues (like chronic fatigue-type symptoms) had amalgams removed, 78 percent of the subjects reported improvement in their health status.