Toxic Time Bombs
in your mouth

Dr. Al Danenberg ● Nutritional Periodontist

June 29, 2020 [printfriendly]

 

 

They’re ticking, but you can’t hear them. They’re ticking, but you can’t feel them. They’re ticking, but you are completely unaware of the impending consequences. Toxic time bombs are in your mouth that might go off any second.

My discussion below will be welcomed by many dentists, especially those whom have been trained in biological or holistic dentistry. They will see this as another educational tool for their patients.

However, some in my profession will scorn my conclusions. Those dentists and dental hygienists refuse to read the science and refuse to investigate the systemic impacts of toxic materials in the mouth on the immune system and on overall chronic diseases. I encourage all who want to review detailed peer-reviewed medical science to search Google Scholar and PubMed for in-depth publications. Then, draw your own informed conclusions.

 

Ticking Culprits

I’ve investigated several potential explosives, which may exist in your mouth. Here are three:

  1. Mercury in amalgam fillings
  2. Dead teeth with failing root canals
  3. Infectious holes in the jawbone

Toxic substances from these culprits are stressful to the entire body. The major problem with these toxic exposures is that they are not a “one time” thing. Each of them stays in your mouth indefinitely. The constant “irritation” from them maintains a chronic state of inflammation in your immune system. So, your body never can get rid of them, and the stress to your total system may become unbearable.

In addition, chronic inflammation can break down your own tissue proteins. Then, your adaptive immune system could get confused and start attacking your own body’s cells. This can develop into any of a number of autoimmune diseases.

 

Analogy

If you had a splinter in your finger, would you just leave it there? Probably not! If you did everything to make your body healthy, but you did not remove that splinter, what do you think would happen?

The splinter (this foreign irritant) would continue to infect your finger. And this infection would affect your immune system, spreading to all parts of your body near and far. But if you removed that splinter, the irritant would be gone, and your body would prepare to heal itself.

However, if you continued to stab that splinter into the original puncture wound, the area would never heal.

So, if these toxic substances exist in your mouth, they could travel many pathways to weaken your immune system and infect the body. Mercury, infection, and inflammation can pass to other body organs by way of nerves. They can leak into the bloodstream through tiny capillaries. And also, they can penetrate the lymph to connect eventually to the circulatory system. All 30 trillion human cells and 38 trillion microbial cells can be affected by these toxic substances.

The proactive course to follow would be to get rid of these irritants completely and forever.

 

3 Toxic Culprits

1. Mercury: If you have “amalgam fillings” in your mouth, you have mercury vapor being released 24/7 from that tooth. Mercury is one of the most toxic nonradioactive materials known to man.[1] It has a high affinity towards proteins and amino acids in the tissues of the human body. Experiments have demonstrated that mercury vapor is ten times more toxic than lead. In addition, tissues such as the liver, kidney, brain, and the spinal cord are the primary targets for accumulation of this heavy metal. I’ve written about mercury toxicity in the past (HERE, HERE). Also, HERE are resources from the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) on mercury.

2. Failing root canals: If you have root canals in your teeth where abscesses have seeped into the surrounding bone, species of dangerous bacteria could migrate through the bone causing serious complications.[2] Even teeth already treated with root canals may continue to create infection from the root surfaces adjacent to the jawbone.[3] The reason is that there are numerous microscopic “tunnels” within the root of the tooth that could harbor bad bacteria which could not be sterilized with the most perfect root canal procedure. Therefore, a continuing source of infection might be present that would affect the immune system and spread disease.[4] HERE are resources from the International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine (IABDM) on root canals.

3. Infected extraction sites: If you had a tooth extracted without the dentist preparing the tooth socket and your body for proper healing, then microscopic toxic elements might be stuck in the bone where the tooth was. These irritating particles might include bacteria, pieces of tartar, fragments of filling materials, and broken bits of the extracted tooth. Then, the jawbone would heal around these substances. Eventually, this toxic stuff caught up inside the healing bone will cause inflammation and infection to fester. I wrote about these lesions called “cavitations” HERE. In addition, HERE is an article from the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) on jawbone cavitations.

 

All this toxicity plays havoc in your body by affecting the gut microbiome and overstimulating the immune system. I wrote about this interaction in three previous blogs. (HERE, HERE, HERE)

 

Identifying These Irritants

It’s easy to see amalgam fillings in teeth. They are “silvery”, “metallic” or “black” in appearance. So, a biologically trained dentist can remove these fillings correctly and replace them with biologically compatible fillings. Thus, this will remove the source of continuous insult from mercury vapor.

But it is not easy to see inflammation and infection in the jawbone as a result of an infected root canal tooth or a bone lesion (i.e. cavitation), each of which can foment disease.

Up until now, the best way for a dentist to visualize damage in the bone related to a root canal or a cavitation was to use a Cone Beam CT (CBCT) Scan. This is a 3-dimensional x-ray, but it emits ionizing radiation. As a matter of fact, the CBCT delivers a higher dose of radiation to the patient than a typical panoramic radiograph by 5–16 times.[5] But to diagnose active infection and inflammation in the bone, the biological dentist must be well-educated in reading the CBCT Scan. In addition, the dentist must take a thorough medical and dental history. And generally, the dentist may need to perform some type of surgical exploration to determine if there is actual inflammation and infection.

However, there is a new medical device invented by Dr. Johann Lechner in Germany and will be available in the US soon. It is called a CaviTAU. The beauty of this device will be twofold:

(1) It will not produce radiation like dental x-ray machines, and

(2) It will show inflammation that cannot be seen on a CBCT Scan.

Being an ultrasound instrument, there are no negative medical side effects. The CaviTAU not only will confirm areas of bone changes similar to the Cone Beam CT Scan but also will identify areas of inflammation – all in 3-D. Therefore, there may not be a need for surgical exploration to diagnose inflammation and infection.

 

Be Proactive

Here are my basic questions to you:

  • Should you be concerned about the potential harm from mercury vapor in your mouth?
  • Should you be concerned about the potential inflammation and infection from of an extraction site or a root canal tooth?

To me, there is evidence that mercury, inflammation, and infection can damage my body in many ways that may take years to manifest. That concerns me. There also is evidence that the resulting damage could be life-threatening. For sure, that concerns me.

Certainly, not everybody with amalgams or root canals or extraction sites will develop medical problems. The number may be relatively small. But your body’s overall wellness could be compromised if you have these toxic culprits.

At least, do some investigation to determine if you have dental amalgams, failing root canals, or infected extraction sites. Personally, if I had these risks, I would to be as proactive as I could within reason.

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6466133/

[2] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28621285/

[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16640632/

[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29163211/

[5]  https://bmcoralhealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12903-018-0592-5

 

 

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Mercury in History:
Amazing Stories

Alvin H. Danenberg, DDS • Nutritional Periodontist
October 16, 2017 [printfriendly]

 

 

Mercury In History
Liquid Mercury

On February 10, 2015, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) reported its current position on dental amalgams.

 

On September 30, 2016, the ADA (American Dental Association) reaffirmed its safety rating for dental amalgam fillings in the mouth.

 

The FDA and the ADA believe that there is no potential biological harm from mercury in dental amalgam fillings. However, I have written several articles about mercury as a hidden poison. (HERE, HERE, HERE)

 

I found some amazing stories about mercury in history and mercury’s effects on the human body. The following two events are intriguing and thought-provoking. I would think that the outcome from these stories in the past would have resulted in banning all possible exposure to mercury going forward. That’s not what really happened.

 

Mad As A Hatter

“Mad as a hatter” was a phrase used to describe a person whose behavior was unpredictable or crazy.

 

The expression is directly related to the hat-making industry in the past and mercury poisoning. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the hat-making industry used mercury nitrate as part of the process of preparing the fur of small animals to produce felt for hats. Those working in these factories had excessive exposure to mercury vapor. Prolonged exposure to residual mercury vapor caused employees to develop a variety of physical and mental ailments. These symptoms included tremors (called “hatter’s shakes”), speech problems, emotional instability and hallucinations.

 

It wasn’t until the early 1940s when the US banned the use of mercury for the production of felt in the hat industry.

 

Minamata Disease Disaster

In May 1956, four individuals from Minamata, a coastal city in Japan, were admitted to the hospital. These patients experienced very high fever, convulsions, psychosis, loss of consciousness, and coma. They died in the hospital.

 

Then, another 13 people from another fishing town near Minamata suffered the same symptoms. All were admitted to the hospital; all died. Many more people began to get sick in the area, and many of them died. Eventually, the doctors came up with a diagnosis – mercury poisoning.

 

It turns out that a fertilizer chemical plant dumped mercury into Minamata Bay as a waste product. Fish in the Bay became contaminated with mercury; people consumed the fish; many people died. Approximately 900 residents in the area died, and 2,265 people directly suffered from mercury poisoning. The disease became known as “Minamata Disease”.

 

Political and corporate pressures worked against a quick solution to the obvious problem. Amazingly, it took 12 years before the fertilizer company was ordered to halt dumping mercury into Minamata Bay.

 

New Research

Mercury vapor is emitted from existing dental amalgam fillings continuously. But, the powers-that-be suggest mercury in dental amalgams is not toxic to human tissues. My review of the most current science continues to show the relationship between chronic degenerative diseases and mercury toxicity.

 

Of the articles I read recently, four were excellent summaries of current research. Two articles discussed mercury’s effects on the immune system and autoimmunity. One article showed how conventional Wi-Fi devices increase the release of free mercury vapor from dental amalgams. And, the last article proposed the emerging trends of current research.

 

Read the science, and make up your mind. My mind is made up. I believe that mercury has no place in the human body.

 

 

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“Mercury in Existing Dental Fillings
is No Problem”

Alvin H. Danenberg, DDS • Nutritional Periodontist
February 20, 2017 [printfriendly]

 

 

mercury in dental fillings“Mercury in existing dental fillings is no problem.” Can you believe that statement? I heard it from a prominent dental educator.

 

I was surprised

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a social “greet and meet” cocktail hour following a dental seminar I was attending. At the reception, I was introduced to the Director of Restorative Dentistry of a major dental school in the US. He was an educated, tenured professor. We chatted about all kinds of things. Eventually the conversation turned to my emphasis on nutrition and how I treat advanced gum disease in my office.

 

We spoke of toxic substances harming our body and mouth. When the topic came to mercury in existing dental filings, he said, “Amalgams are controversial. Mercury in existing dental fillings is no problem.” He emphasized that there were no studies that showed mercury being released from old amalgams causing damage to human cells. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He continued to tell me that dental students at his university were still trained to place mercury amalgams in teeth.

 

Wow!

 

The science

The science clearly shows mercury is toxic to the human body, and free mercury vapor is emitted from existing dental amalgams constantly (HERE. HERE.)  Just as lead in the water or in paint is potentially toxic, mercury in dental amalgams sitting in teeth is toxic. Just last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Chairman of the World Mercury Project (WMP), announced a $100,000 challenge aimed at putting an end to including mercury, a neurotoxin that is 100 times more poisonous than lead, in vaccines administered in the U.S and globally. As far back as 1998, research was published about toxic mercury in dental fillings.

 

My thoughts

I didn’t know how to reason with this dental educator. He was in a position to know all the science out there. I could only tell him that I have learned so much from PubMed.gov, which is my go-to source for current knowledge. I then walked away.

 

My profession is well trained in the repair of broken and diseased teeth. However, some in my profession are not well informed of the medical research that has been published in peer-reviewed journals. Highly trained and competent technical dentists need to be onboard with current medical research in order to provide patients with the best preventive and reparative treatment possible.

 

Josh Billings (the 19th Century humorist) put it so clearly: “It ain’t so much the things we don’t know that get us into trouble. It’s the things we know that just ain’t so.”

 

 

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