You may have another reason to not getting dental work done: fillings. Not just any fillings however, but silver/amalgam dental fillings. These types of dental fillings should be avoided at all costs. Many people out there haven’t even heard of these types of fillings, and luckily there are a lot of fillings that are also very safe. However, amalgam fillings contain large amounts of mercury. Mercury is used in various objects out there, such as thermometers, but those aren’t made much anymore due to evidence shown that mercury was a toxic substance.
With that being said, serious damage can be caused by the element, and actually ranks next to arsenic, which we all know has brought death to some people. It is a neurotoxic and immunotoxic poison found in various forms, such as the material created when the fillings are removed, grinding your teeth, or even a vapor given off when the fillings are heated up by hot foods or liquids!
Mercury was banned from being used in paints back in the early 90’s luckily, when the EPO (Environmental Protection Organization), deemed it as a toxic substance needing extraction filters and advanced disposal methods. For example, dental office waste cannot just be thrown down the drain to end up in the city sewage unless it is first filtered properly. Mercury is just unwanted all-around, due to costing businesses and the city a lot of money to properly expose of it, and the obvious repercussions on living beings.
The Environmental Health Criteria Document 118 states that the typical amount of mercury released by amalgam fillings is anywhere from 3.8 to 21 micrograms per day! Can you imagine? The toxicity of the fillings have been recognized in prestigious studies around the world. Adults, fetuses, and children can be affected by them, presenting them with kidney issues, as well as teeth damage, and even brain damage.
Our environment is greatly affected just from dental amalgams, alone. That may sound crazy, but think about it. Our water is affected by everything we put down our drains. The human waste and dental clinic waste pollutes water by releasing it into the water surrounding us. Through cremation, dental clinic emissions, sludge incineration, and respiration, our air is now also affected. Finally, our land is harmed by landfills, burials, and fertilizer. Methylmercury is highly toxic, and is produced when mercury meets the soil. This substance has the ability to infect the fish, which aside from harming the fish, can also harm the humans that consume it.
As you can see, this is all part of a cycle. If each one of us don’t take steps to making ourselves and our environment a healthier place, we will all suffer for it. Together we must resist against the use of dental amalgams, because anything being produced with mercury will ultimately affect us. It will affect us, it will affect our loved ones, and it will even affect our ancestors that live years from now, if we don’t take proactive action now.
