Risk of Removing Mercury Fillings
The silver metal fillings dentists most commonly use are amalgamated metal that contains the toxic heavy metal mercury. There has been an ongoing international debate regarding the risks of patients keeping these fillings versus the risk of removing mercury fillings. Though the Food and Drug Administration rewrote its guidelines regarding these filling, there is still no general consensus regarding whether they pose a serious health risk to people who have them or not.
Mercury health risks
When a dentist inserts mercury fillings into the mouth, the mecury releases mercury vapors, which can lead to severe illnesses. In severe cases, mercury toxicity leads to damage to the brain and immune system as well as kidney problems. Some studies also link mercury toxicity to Alzheimer's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, depression and birth defects.
According to both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there is a negligible risk to your health if you have mercury fillings. The FDA suggests that removing them, unless you have a severe allergy to mercury, is a dental health risk and completely unnecessary.
Removal risks
The major risks of removing mercury fillings are that, first, it releases mercury vapors into your mouth, which you inhale during the removal process. Second, the process of removing the fillings destroys the surrounding healthy gum and mouth tissue.
When evaluating the risk of removing your mercury feelings, you must also consider the fact that if you keep them in your mouth, you release mercury every time you chew on something. You inhale the mercury and the mercury also absorbs into the surrounding tissues in your mouth. Removing the fillings or leaving them in is a personal health choice that necessitates careful consideration.
Something else you may want to consider when evaluating the risks of mercury fillings is that, even though the FDA deems these types of fillings to be safe, other countries like Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Germany have formal bans the use of mercury fillings.
Tags: mercury fillings, your mouth, Drug Administration, fillings that, Food Drug