Mercury Fillings: What Should You Do?

Dental amalgam fillings contain the heavy metal mercury. It’s not uncommon for my patients to decide to have these fillings removed as part of their efforts to get healthy.

If you’re going to take that course of action, make sure that you have a dentist who is very sharp and up to date when it comes to mercury amalgam removal. For example, you’ll definitely want to work with a dentist who uses a rubber dam during the procedure. It also makes the most sense to remove the biggest filling first and work your way down from the “worst” tooth to the tooth containing the least amalgam.

I would recommend getting a hair analysis for heavy metals before you undertake the dental procedure. A hair analysis should measure not only mercury but also the levels of copper, zinc, cadmium, lead, and arsenic.

You should repeat the hair analysis during the filling removal process, and again farther on down the road. What you should notice is that your baseline mercury level increases as the dental work is done, and then it goes down to a very low level. Once the mercury level has dropped significantly, you can be confident that a substantial amount of this toxic metal has been removed from your body.

Further readings:

In addition to hair analysis, I would recommend a stool test to determine the health of your gut. Next, address any gut-related issues before you undertake a mercury detoxification process. You want your gut to be healthy before beginning the detox. If you have a leaky gut, you’ll end up reabsorbing the heavy metals you are trying to remove.

Your liver and kidneys are involved in excreting heavy metals from the body. Mercury can be very hard on your kidneys. For that reason, make sure these organs are in good working order before beginning a heavy metal detoxification process.

In summary, the steps to take when removing your amalgam fillings are as follows:

1. Find a well-trained dentist with expertise in amalgam removal.

2. Do a hair analysis before, during, and after removing your mercury-containing fillings.

3. Do a stool analysis and address any gut problem.

4. Ensure your liver and kidneys are working well.

5. Undertake the heavy metal detoxification process with the appropriate monitoring by a healthcare professional.

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