Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., and Robert J. Cihak, M.D.
Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2003

Mercury.

Medical and dental mercury, specifically.

For decades, many scientists have been concerned about the mercury that dentists use to prepare the metallic, silver-colored amalgams (fillings) that patch our decayed teeth. Anecdotes about mercury's toxic effects have been common.

Some of these anecdotes are now being validated. Scientists are demonstrating significant relationships between mercury and some diseases.

On July 12, at the annual meeting of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness (DDP) in Phoenix, Ariz., Boyd Haley, Ph.D., a biochemist and chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky, described striking new evidence of the mercury in amalgam fillings being the source of mercury in toxic chemicals, such as organic mercury-thiol, ethyl-mercury, mercurous sulfide and other mercury-containing compounds.

These and other chemicals, through complex chemical and physical interactions, cause or aggravate some brain and heart disorders, such as autism, Alzheimer's disease and some heart conditions, if present in high enough concentrations.

Dr. Haley described some of his findings in testimony before the House Government Reform Committee on Nov. 14, 2002, including data in press in a scientific article in the August issue of the International Journal of Toxicology. He found that autistic children do not effectively excrete mercury. "In normal children the level of mercury in birth hair goes up with increasing amalgams in the birth mother. In contrast, in autistic children there is very little excretion of mercury in their birth hair no matter how many amalgams the birth mother has. Yet, exposing these children to a mercury challenge test to determine toxic exposure to mercury shows that the autistic children have retained higher amounts of toxic heavy metals."

In other words, "autistics ... do not physiologically handle mercury excretion like normal individuals" and "are therefore much more susceptible to neurological damage through exposures to mercury." Dr. Haley notes that "it is the mercury retained in the body's cells that cause toxicity, not that that is found in the urine, hair and feces."

In another example, a 1999 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the concentration of mercury in the heart muscle tissue of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM) was 22,000 times more than that in unaffected patients. We've all heard of the sudden and shocking deaths of young athletes on the field. Dr. Haley's opinion is that "dental amalgam is the source of this mercury."

But "medical mercury" is found in more than fillings. As we noted in our Newsmax article "Are Vaccines Shots in the Dark?" mercury is also found in some vaccines and is associated with neurodevelopmental problems such as speech disorders and autism, as well as heart attacks.

We reported a scientific study in the March 2003 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons [http://www.jpands.org/vol8no1/geier.pdf] by Mark Geier, M.D., Ph.D., and David Geier, B.A., which found "an 800 percent increase in the incidence of autism since the mid-1980s, when officials approved and then mandated many new vaccines for children."

Of course, not everyone agrees. As the American Dental Association (ADA) points out, dentists have used amalgam fillings for over 150 years, without clear evidence of widespread harm. For 150 years, they pretty much had to. Few other substances worked. The ADA concedes that amalgam fillings produce "rare occurrences of allergic response" and estimates that fillings may release "minute amounts of mercury vapor (between 1-3 micrograms per day).

But it rejects scientific studies finding much higher levels of mercury release, conclusions of significant hazard and the opinions of highly qualified scientists.

But the ADA position may no longer be scientifically tenable. And other materials are now available for dental work, such as glass ionomers, resin ionomers, ceramic porcelain, and porcelain fused to metal, plus gold and base metal alloys.

We'd like to see the mercury-free silver amalgam restorative developed jointly by the Dental and Medical Materials section of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the ADA be made available in the USA. Research shows that this mercury-free amalgam tooth filling "equals or exceeds the transverse rupture strength, shear strength, creep, toughness, corrosion resistance, microleakage, cyclic contact fatigue, and wear properties of conventional mercury amalgam." (Findings available on Dr. Haley's Web site: http://www.testfoundation.org/.)

So what should you do, America, about the fillings in your teeth? First, please, please don't have them yanked, especially if you've had them for 20 or more years. The wear and tear of removal is simply not justified for the majority of us. But if you're having neurological problems, such as tremors and shakes, we do suggest you seek expert opinion from a member of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. [http://emporium.turnpike.net/P/PDHA/health.htm] Academy members practice mercury-free dentistry in the USA, Canada and Europe.

Once again, most teeth are not toxic. Most people with "mercury mouth" suffer no ill effects. And to repeat what we've said many times, "The poison is in the dose" – not in the simple presence of any chemical. Nonetheless, we recommend not adding to the mercury already in your mouth if you don't have to.

Michael Arnold Glueck, M.D., is a multiple-award-winning writer who comments on medical-legal issues. Robert J. Cihak, M.D., is a former president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Contact Drs. Glueck and Cihak by e-mail.

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