Whether you believe the fillings caused your CFS problem or only contribute to your problems, it makes no difference. The amalgam fillings are exposing you to mercury all the time.

A person who has CFS has a greatly diminished ability to deal with the constant mercury flow from their mercury amalgam fillings.

The mercury releasing fillings have got to go! Ridding yourself of further mercury exposure is imperative if you desire to become well and stay well.

Proceed carefully. Removing mercury amalgam can give you a big one time exposure if it is not done correctly. Mercury is released when the dentists high speed drill is applied to the amalgam.

Studies have shown that a persons mercury exposure increases far above the everyday as a direct result of an unsafe amalgam removal process.

There are 3 ways mercury can enter your body during amalgam removal.

1. The hot mercury vapor created by the drill can pass directly into the tissue of the oral cavity.

2. Particles of amalgam can fall into the throat and pass into the GI track. Once in the GI track, the mercury amalgam experiences further dissolution by your own bodies digestion, and bacterial flora inhabiting the GI.

Both digestion and flora can release more mercury from the particles. Worse, GI organisms change the dental mercury into the even more toxic methyl mercury.

3. Mercury vapor released during drilling is inhaled into the lungs. The dentist suffers this exposure as well. 80% of respired mercury is absorbed into the lungs. From the lungs the mercury ions travel in the blood until a binding location is found.

If you are already ill with CFS, all of these exposures are of great concern. If the smell of gasoline can make you sick, believe me, a mercury rush from dental drilling has the potential to really mess you up.

Safe Amalgam Removal

1. The dentist at minimum has to use a rubber dam to keep some of the hot vapors from entering the tissues of your mouth directly. The dam can be effective at keeping amalgam particles from tumbling down your throat.

Many dentists use rubber dams. The mercury ignorant dentist just wants to keep his work area clean and dry. You will not raise too many eyebrows with this request, though don't expect much understanding for your mercury concerns.

Sam Ziff believes a rubber dam is less than fool proof, since experiments have shown mercury vapor to collect in the mouth under the rubber dam during amalgam drilling.

2. The mercury free dentists are placing respirators on their patients during drilling.

They are also employing scavenging systems to clear the operating room of any mercury vapor that escapes the suction device in your mouth. If you press for a respirator, the dentist is going to think you are bonkers. If you are one who is severely ill with CFS, you really need that respirator.

3. There is a water cooled drill from Sweden now in use to keep mercury vaporization at a minimum. The dentists using this equipment will section the amalgam, removing it in pieces. The unsafe dentist is going to grind away the entire filling.

Make Sure It's All Gone!

Here's the one I missed at first, hidden mercury.

Endodontists use amalgam to cover the root apex after doing a root canal from the gum side. An endodontic root canal is an unpleasant surgery to endure. They cut open your gums, and saw away the bottom of the tooth to get at the nerve and pulp of the tooth.

At the original writing of this article, I had one of these root apex caps in my jaw. Extraction of the entire tooth was the only remedy likely to be complete enough in removing the mercury amalgam. The endodontist had done a fine job with the root canal. He failed me miserably by closing his work with mercury amalgam.

In it's last days the root apex amalgam was driving me crazy with irritation in my chin bone. Upon examination of the extracted tooth, it became clear why. All the tooth contact points with the amalgam were heavily corroded. The only portion of the amalgam not black is the surface facing out to the gums.

Dentists will use amalgam to cover a root canal, and to build a post for a crown. This is the worst possible use of amalgam. When gold and amalgam touch they produce the most effective galvanic reaction available for dental mercury release.

The result of this "battery" is a rapid release of mercury and other metal ions into your body as the amalgam corrodes. Cement does not form a trustworthy insulative barrier between the amalgam and the crown.

J.P. Dewald, C.J. Arcoria and V.A. Marker of Baylor College of Dentistry published a report in 1992 titled: "Evaluation of the interactions between amalgam, cement, and gold castings".

They conducted a complete double blind experiment "in vitro" on 3 variables: cement A vs cement B; cement vs no cement; and thermal cycle vs no thermal cycle.

What they found is that there is cement loss in all thermal cycled cases. They found that the amalgam corroded in all cases. Amalgam corrosion rate went up with thermal cycles in all cases.

Thermal cycles simulate what happens when you eat hot food, and drink hot fluids. Mercury releasing amalgam corrosion was at it's maximum when thermo-cycled and there was direct contact between a gold crown and mercury amalgam.

I unhappily report that I still had three of these amalgam cores hidden under gold crowns at the time of my initial recovery from CFS. The one that seemed most reactive has been removed.

Don't Mix Metals Any Longer Than Needed

Next after direct contact between gold and amalgam is the same galvanic reaction using your saliva, tissue, bone and tooth as conductive intermediaries. Very likely gold in some form will be used as a replacement if you have large molar fillings.

Your mouths constituents are excellent conductors. Ever witness a kid get a jolt by placing his tongue across a 9V battery's connectors? It was the saliva that short circuited the battery.

Dentists use a small electrical current to detect nerve sensitivity in teeth.

The galvanic affect with gold through your mouth will hasten the release of mercury from your remaining amalgams. Don't let the amalgam reside in your mouth with other metals any longer than possible.

Not knowing this information, I lived with mixed metals in my mouth for years. This is yet another factor in my personal story of chronic illness.

The only good mercury amalgam is the one that never got placed!