My Story of Mercury Poisoning
If you were raised in the 90’s like myself you most likely would have gotten a cavity as a child and it would have been filled with a mercury filling called amalgam. One of the most common filling materials, amalgam has been used for over 150 years and is still used in practice today for its low cost, strength, durability and not every dentist has alternative options. They typically need to be replaced every 10 years or less. Common dental practice is to leave them in for life. These silver fillings (mercury) continuously release poisonous mercury “vapor” which enters your bloodstream and accumulates overtime. I am going to let you guys in on my mercury poisoning, how I noticed it, and what my care plan was to treat.
This being said, I want to be very clear about one thing: I am not a doctor or practitioner who has a license in treating heavy metal poisoning. What I am sharing is my story and what worked for me. I will mention the health professionals who helped me along this journey and those who did not. I recommend you seek help if you are going through something similar.
Putting the Pieces Together
Growing up I always had my hygiene appointments covered by Medicaid or when my mother would let our coverage lapse, my Grandmother would pay for my visits out of pocket. Bottom line: I never missed a hygiene cleaning. These moments are so clearly engrained in my head for some reason. I associate the dentist with my Grandmother Abernathy and sometimes her checkbook. I could only go to the dentist on Monday’s because that was the day they took Medicaid. Again, I don’t know how I have these memories. As much as I have these memories, I always remember feeling like I had done something wrong. Every time I went to the dentist, my dentist Dr. Turner, would bring me to the “parents” room with a look of disappointment and say that I had yet another cavity. At the time, I didn’t know that I was a “drill and fill” kid. My family or upraising didn’t know about root causes or traditional Chinese medicine. You did what the doctor told you, you got the fluoride and you filled cavities. Here I was, just a small child always reminded that I had a cavity once again.
I never had a solid “routine” like most children did. Being raised by my mother came with a duffel bag and endless nights scouring for a place to sleep for the night or changing addresses for the 10th time and not being able to find my toothbrush. I think back to my nutrition during my upraising and we usually had McDonald’s every night with a side of Little Debbie Cakes. My mother did the best she could to make sure we were fed, regardless of the nutritional value and for this I’m thankful. I thought maybe my bad oral health as a child was due to my genetics, but really it was my eating habits. I’m going to show you some photos of my teeth and the alarming at the cavities I had underneath.
Blood Testing
You’re probably asking how I got to this point? How did I even consider the metal in my mouth was related to anything at all? I got postpartum blood work done! I had high indicators for mercury. I went on to have a Organic Acids Test and Heavy Metals Urine test from Great Plains Laboratory. After seeing my high levels, my first thought was WATER! It has to be the water in my home. So, I went on to change out my shower head with a filtered one and started buying water at our local water store who removes chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals etc. This clearly wasn’t it. I still had this nagging feeling that something wasn’t right. I had started researching mercury poisioning and what these symptoms could look like and I came up with these 5:
irritability
insomnia/sleep issues
high number of headaches throughout the day
feelings of weakness for no reason
muscle tremors or twitching/teeth grinding
Teeth Grinding
While the puzzle was still coming together, I had started cracking my two front teeth from grinding my teeth at night. Asking some of my mom friends and doing some research of my own, I tied teeth grinding to heavy metal poisoning! There it was, my mouth. It was the mercury amalgam filling in my mouth and I had FIVE!
Removal
I went through two dental practices before I found someone who didn’t think I was crazy. My second dentist agreed completely that everything could be linked to to amalgam filings that had been in my mouth for 20+ years! I also had stress fractures on all my metal fillings that had caused the fillings to crack down the middle. This was allowing the amalgam to leak out into my bloodstream. I went in on a Tuesday and on Thursday we did the removal and refill. That’s how rapidly my doctor wanted to remove them. Upon my initial consultation, I told Dr. V all of my concerns and how I desperately wanted to prevent any further tooth damage. He gave me options for my filling composite and alternatives for pain management during the removal and refilling.
Right before we started - blanket and massage chair
I was worried at first for the contraindications in pain meds used during the procedure and breastfeeding. I went ahead and pulled studies and brought the studies to my doctor. Since lidocaine and epinephrine have a short half life, there hasn’t been any known contraindications with breastfeeding. There are also not many studies out there. My doctor was extremely patient and accepting of my concerns. Since amalgam is indeed toxic and deemed as a nontoxic alternative in most medical practices, they have to use a rubber dam in your mouth, filter the surgery room for mercury vapor and use body coverings. And they deem them safe? The amalgam fillings are removed in chunks using a high speed drill and suctioned off the rubber dam immediately. I was very impressed with the speed and how they isolated my mercury filled teeth from all others during removal.
I had 3 amalgam fillings on my right side and 2 on my left side. We only did one side of the mouth at a time! I was thankful for this. The entire process for my right side took 2 hours and my mouth was opened for almost the entirety of it. It was tiring for sure!
Here is the before and after!
These pictures are totally not embarrassing for me! I am so overjoyed to show off my mercury free mouth and get the other two removed soon! They replaced them with a higher grade, nontoxic composite filling. I plan to get another heavy metals blood test done after I do my liver cleanse protocol. I will share these details as well and what I am doing to cleanse my body of this metal paired with the whole foods life style we already live.
I am glad to tell my story and how I am detoxing! I’m also excited to be teaching Iris how to care for her teeth. Every morning when I turn on my sonicare toothbrush she comes running into the bathroom asking for her toothbrush!
I have listed the oral hygiene products we use in our home with links! Here is also the best book you can read on educating yourself on your children’s teeth and this applies to you if you’re currently pregnant as well!
Dr B’s Guide to Preventing and Reversing Tooth Decay for Kids by Dr. Mark Burhenne
Thank you to the Doctors at Vacendak Dentistry in Chesapeake, VA for taking the best care of me!
How we keep our family’s oral microbiome healthy below
Coconut Oil for Oil Pulling
Thanks for reading!
xo,
hayes
