Here's an example of the sort of harm caused by those
who propagate myths about amalgam's alleged harmful
effects:
"The only step we've taken that I truly regret is when
I had all my "silver" (amalgam) fillings in my teeth
replaced (22 fillings, involving 14 teeth). I do know
of people that this has helped, but it hasn't helped me
at all health-wise and has left me with over a year of
constant pain in my teeth. I lost 1 tooth that had to
be pulled, as well. The problem was that the dentist
did not warn me about just how excruciating the pain
could be before I had this done - they said it was
similar to getting a filling - and that I'd probably have
"a little sensitivity" afterwards. Was THAT ever an
understatement! I had to take strong pain-killers daily
for a solid two months after the removals, and that just
barely kept me comfortable! The other problem is
they talked me into having all 4 quadrants of my teeth
done the same week - in 4 consecutive days. This
was probably the biggest mistake we made. I had no
problems with the exposures during the removals - they
did follow the recommended protocol for removing
the amalgams. However, the pain and problems
with chewing I have suffered since then were just
unbearable. For almost a year I was not able to chew
anything even slightly crunchy - even pickles or onions -
and absolutely nothing to eat or drink that was
colder than room temperature! If something cold hit
those teeth - it would almost make me say dirty
words it would hurt so bad! I even had to brush
my teeth with warm water only. I'm just now starting to
be able to chew regularly again - nuts are still out,
but it's getting better all the time. Also, the filling
material they used on me was a "composite" and
they're not lasting at all. I've already had to have 2
crowns and a bridge (involving 3 teeth) because the
fillings started cracking the minute I was finally able
to start chewing on those back teeth. I'm just putting
this out there because I feel I wasn't given complete
information before making the decision to go ahead
with my removals. I now would tell people to try
absolutely EVERY other way to reduce their toxic
exposures first (cleaning their environment, switching
to non-toxic products, etc.) before making the decision
to have their fillings removed and replaced. And
even then - only if you're still really disabled from your
condition..."
That's a quote from:
http://www.ourlittleplace.com/jackimcs.html