Hi guys,
The first thing many books on longevity I've read say is to get your metal fillings replaced.
I know most doctors will recommend 'if there are no issues, just leave them', although I'd like to hear more from anyone who has had this done.
The one person I do know swears by it - he says his energy levels, mood, headaches, etc etc have all greatly improved, but that's just one guy.
Has anyone had this done and what (if any) benefits did you experience?
Thanks!
H&D your speed in replying to random threads (being first poster) and knowledge on random subjects is impressive. Hats off
The first thing many books on longevity I've read say is to get your metal fillings replaced.
Books written by "health gurus" based on limited observations and convenient analogies.
I know most doctors will recommend 'if there are no issues, just leave them', although I'd like to hear more from anyone who has had this done.
Doctors.
The one person I do know swears by it - he says his energy levels, mood, headaches, etc etc have all greatly improved, but that's just one guy.
Convenient analogy.
Has anyone had this done and what (if any) benefits did you experience?
A request for more mumbo jumbo analogies.
Find a profession, vocation, trades… Any representation of a group that hasn't had a rogue act in personal self interest.
smoke a Camel
Dromedary or Bactrian?
I reckon he means the toes only so whichever doesn't matter.
"smoke a Camel"
Sounds like he has the hump…
The good old 'if any doctor has ever been wrong, discredit the opinions of every doctor' argument. I hope you see why it's a logical fallacy.
You know, they don't always know best but they are probably the people to give you the best advice based on available knowledge. The Tobacco industry spent a good deal of money hushing up the effects of smoking until the medical profession came up with some fairly overwhelming studies.
The problem with health "gurus" is they don't tend to be regulated and they can do real harm by getting people to stop using conventional medicine. In this case it would, most probably, be people's wallets that will take a hit whilst all the fillings are replaced rather than their health.
This is the release from the American Dental Association on current understanding.
https://www.ada.org/en/press-room/press-kits/dental-fillings…
If you are concerned then get them replaced.
What self interest do you think Doctors and Dentists have in advising you not to undergo further treatment to replace them?
Advise your patients to not have treatment.
???
Profit.
@domcc1:
Dentist here. In what way do I profit if amalgams are recommended to be retained??
There is literally no self interest here as swapping out all your amalgams is potentially a $2k bill.
So you'd rather trust health gurus than doctors wow.
No - I'm just asking for peoples experiences.
Unsure why everyone is jumping down my throat about it. It's like I've personally insulted them or something.
You've rubbed people in medical/dental profession the wrong way by choosing to ignore multiple practitioner's advice and prioritising reading health guru rubbish. Then proceed to validate your claims with anecdotal evidence.
Then claim theres self interest at heart when dentist tell your NOT to get expensive treatment.
Probably why a few people are triggered.
Yeh, I had all mine replaced.
I think every single one of my molars were filled with metal.
I Did it in 4 stages over 4 years. Last section finished last year.
Haven’t noticed any benefit whatsoever to my wellbeing.
It just looks better when I open my mouth and roar with laughter
That is the reason I can see for replacing them. Having a mouthful of grey metal is not a good look, but I'm too old and cheap to care at this stage. When I've needed to replace a filling then I've gone for the "white" fillings.
Dunno if this is myth or not but the theory is the metal fillings are rigid and don’t flex where as a healthy tooth has some flex in it when chewing. Over time the rigid metal starts to damage the healthy tooth during chewing.
The metal fillings supposedly contract and expand depending on if your eating hot or cold food, that repetitive process weakens the tooth and can cause fractures. To scare us an analogy of a mercury thermometer rising in the heat is used.
Another one is that the metals oxidise over time and that causes the filling to permanently expand.
That all might be nonsense but it does seem logical
"The metal fillings supposedly contract and expand depending on if your eating hot or cold food, that repetitive process weakens the tooth and can cause fractures."
This is pretty much the explanation that my dentist gave me about a year ago as to why my tooth with metal filling had cracked. The filling would have been in for about 30 years.
Mate, you are correct. I had a metal filling removed because it started to expand and my tooth started to fracture.
Having said that, if you don't have any issues, leave them.
On the other hand, once you have fractures then you do have more than one issue ;-)
Cheaper to just never laugh.
frown. use more energy. burn more calories. frown your way to fitness
If you own a cat you can't help but laugh all the time. My two are first class acrobats - I swear I can hear them say "tada".
be like grumpy cat
I lol, therefore Im fat?
What do they use now to fill fillings?
I stopped hearing radio transmissions after mine were taken out. :( But the dentist assures me that he can source some DAB+ fillings for me. :)
Bluetooth?
you're using my joke now,
where i say my mobile phone reception improves due to metal-fillings!
My dentist said the white fillings are more toxic… they are made of composite or something ? isnt that plastic… and they use the UV light… thats dangerous :O
I had mine removed and my downloads started going faster.
How about getting a blood test to see if there's an elevated amount of mercury in your blood? If not then I suggest there's no need to remove the fillings.
My dentist told me that to remove the metal ones you have to drill the hole deeper/wider - so if the metal ones are giving no problems, best to keep them as is and only remove if they are causing issues…
PS: What "books on longevity" are you reading? :P
This. I work in this area and that advice is exactly correct.
Amalgam fillings have been around for decades and there is no evidence to indicate they are unsafe.
Removing amalgam will release the metals that are currently stable and inert into the oral cavity, a small amount of which will be absorbed into the body.
Further removing them will almost certainly result in some healthy natural tooth structure being removed which is best avoided.
Amalgam fillings are safe and studies indicate they are more resilient and provide better longer term restorations than “white fillings”.
I would suggest that anyone suggesting asymptomatic/sound amalgam fillings be removed and replaced is doing so in their interest not the patients.
Regardless OP seems to have made up their mind and is simply looking for reinforcement of their decision rather than actual advice.
Ultimately it’s your mouth and your money OP!
Yep stop reading quackery books. Supposed benefits are dubious. Absolutely no reason to disturb a perfectly good, functional filling. Why subject yourself to potential complications by doing so? Only reason to use non-amalgam is aesthetics.
I would suggest that metals may have other downsides (and also upsides) when compared to a resin based material.
Coefficient of thermal expansion comes to mind - I'd imagine an organic matrix holding inorganic particles would be better mimicked by the like. Ie, tooth and filled resins
Metal would probably be a better choice where compressive strength and modulus of ductility are concerned.
I had one fall out in my sleep after going to the school of dentistry at UQ to get it done cheap.
The next day the cat walked past me and I farted blew it's head clean off with a shitty old filling.
I really popped a cap in that cats arse.
hmmm, maybe, just maybe, I think you are not telling the entire truth here.
Yeah, everyone knows cats have 9 lives.
OK I admit I really did need to eye it up before I took the shot.
I've always wondered about this logic.
"Metal fillings look obviously metal. Some metals are harmful. Therefore the metal filling must be harmful."
"White fillings are white. The fillings look like teeth. Teeth are good. The material must be good".
Do any of these health and wellness books ever explore the dangers of oxygen or the lack thereof? Do they understand that harmful elements in isolation may not be harmful after certain catalytic processes? Do these health gurus know what's actually in a white filling before they've made the assumption that the white fillings are healthier than metal ones?
I've always wondered.
Do any of these health and wellness books ever explore the dangers of oxygen or the lack thereof?
Lack of Oxygen <—-> These kinds of theories. I feel like it's a bit of an chicken-and-egg situation.
Sorry? Chicken-and-egg situation?
Naa, that one's easy.. The egg came first.
As I understand, evolution happens from generation to generation. ie, creatures do not change from one to another during their own life. Two things that were not chickens had an offspring (egg) that was the first chicken.
Haha I've discussed this with friends too, years ago. It's not that simple - speciation is generally determined by whether you can reproduce viable offspring or not. You can almost always do that between two generations. So you have at least half a dozen generations of 'maybe chicken' between your 'not chicken' and your 'is chicken' specimens.
Do these health gurus know what's actually in a white filling before they've made the assumption that the white fillings are healthier than metal ones?
Melamine for example.
You could put together an argument that Melanin is the single most destructive chemical compound known to man.
Be safe and healthy, remove all the metal from your teeth, and to be sure it’s all gone, insist they remove the teeth as well. The side benefit is that you will probably eat less and your weight will go down.
Or replace it with gold, that way the relo’s can cash your body in to pay for the funeral, you can subsidise the cost from the savings on funeral insurance
There is a benefit to getting the metal fillings removed, your weigh less. Well your wallet does anyway.
My mother is one of those crazies that believes all this sort of crap. My father needed a filling replaced. Cost $1600 for a new "non-toxic" filling, from some all-natural dentist. Love to see what a all-natural anesthetic has in it. Magic mushrooms?
I've paid maybe $500 max for a 4 surface filling before. So $1600 seems like its taking the piss. Hell, I've had a lab-made crown done before and it only cost $1800.
It probably has a few of the following labels
Organic, gluten free, ethically sourced, fair trade, carbon neutral, plate for plate, rainforest approved, nature inspired…
But most of all, it's not-for-profit.
Amalgam fillings include "silver, mercury, tin and copper. Small amounts of zinc, indium or palladium also may be used.", all of these are found in the ground.
Composite fillings, Bis-GMA (bisphenol A-glycidyl methacrylate), Dimethacrylate monomers (TEGMA, UDMA, HDDMA), Filler materials eg. Silica (Silicon dioxide) silica, Synthetic photoinitiator, Dimethylglyoxime.
Sounds like the metal fillings are much more natural.
Plutonium is natural, not sure if that means it’s good for you.
I've got mixed reactions from people, the concern is that mercury leeches out of them and gives you mercury poisoning to one extent or another. I know a couple of people who swear their health has improved after they got them out and a few more that got them out and noticed no difference. I've lost a few over the years due to natural attrition and haven't noticed too much of an effect but if there is one (for me) then it has been very subtle. I guess if you are concerned you could get a hair or blood test (can't remember the test you need to detect mercury now though.) So unless you had a detectable mercury problem I wouldn't be too concerned.
Thank you for your helpful answer, I appreciate it. It's a rare find in this thread of insults.
So in reality you want to do it, rather than listen to other points of view (labelling them as insults) -so why did you even ask when you know the answer you want
I find it amazing you can read my mind. Why do you say I want to do it?
I'm asking for peoples experiences who have done it, even noting in my OP that I do understand what most Dentists have to say about it - yet just get this same information repeated back to me in a condescending manner.
Very literally it's impossible for the mercury in tooth filling amalgam to leech out and chemically or otherwise interact with your body. Add to that that studies have shown that it doesn't happen, and you've got to be willfully blind to believe otherwise.
100% observer bias
But in any case, you risk exposure much more by having them removed. They aren't doing anything while stuck in your teeth.
Finally, it's worth considering that elemental mercury is virtually harmless unless inhaled. There's case studies of people drinking large quantities, or even injecting it only to have it removed via syringe with no ill effects. It's organic (and inorganic) mercury that's dangerous.
I had mine removed and got an extra 10 FPS in Far Cry 5.
That doesn't make sense, heavy/rare metals are required for PCB and computer hardware. So the metal filling should have given you extra FPS, not removing them.
You should ask for a refund or return on your metal fillings, quote ACL if needed.
cuz aesthetics
Perhaps it depends on the state of the filling? They can start degrading or pitting which might leach some of the metals.
The dentists I've seen over years have never pushed me at all to get any of them removed and they would have a financial interest in doing so.
Me too - when I asked my dentist, he suggested there is no issue with metal fillings.
Of course, to replace one filling with another is not a friction-less transaction - it means having anaesthetics and having the original filling broken down in your mouth with a drill and the physiological stress of dentistry. You would need to be pretty sure you you were going to be better off to put yourself through that.
So I used to suffer from headaches, and ground my teeth. My old amalgam fillings were failing and needed to be replaced anyhow. My headaches went away but that is far more likely to be because I stopped grinding my teeth.
So the main benefit I found from replacing the old fillings was I can now chew aluminium foil.
…and from a science perspective: https://www.fda.gov/medicaldevices/productsandmedicalprocedu…
"FDA has reviewed the best available scientific evidence to determine whether the low levels of mercury vapor associated with dental amalgam fillings are a cause for concern. Based on this evidence, FDA considers dental amalgam fillings safe for adults and children ages 6 and above. The weight of credible scientific evidence reviewed by FDA does not establish an association between dental amalgam use and adverse health effects in the general population. Clinical studies in adults and children ages 6 and above have found no link between dental amalgam fillings and health problems."
Basically, you can choose to have them removed if you want, but for the majority of people the fillings only need to be removed when they need to be replaced due to normal wear & tear. Most of mine were starting to fail, so I chose to replace them all (as I knew the ones that were still ok were almost certainly going to fail soon anyway as they were all done around the same time). Note that the removal process of any filling will necessitate the removal of some natural tooth material so the less you do that the better. If you really want to reduce that, then you should go gold teeth as that can last the longest if done well - costs a lot more of course, but you need to balance that with the longer lifespan and less impact to your existing tooth…… plus you can look like a pirate.
My sister has just gone through having all her amalgam fillings replaced and seems to be doing better health wise. Along with the dental work they fully changed her diet as well (which could account for most health improvements), all up its going to cost close to $10k.
I agree with the premise of better to remove it but thats way too much to spend. Im getting on in years so will have to do it one tooth at a time as needed.
For the record, I do believe most Doctors do do the right thing, and have a patients best interests at heart, but it's not impossible that mercury fillings cause side effects over a 10-20-30 year period of time. Can anyone site any studies that have been done? Who knows?
Looking back in history, there are many things we (and Doctors) thought were safe and fine, then turned out not to be - think asbestos for example.
Anyone that blindly follows advice from Doctors without checking it out themselves are the ones with the issue.
Yes, it's likely they are fine, and replacing them is a bit of a scam, but it doesn't hurt to ask around for some real world experiences.
The evidence against asbestos was known in the 1920s. The amalgam has been around for a long time and the link highlighted shows studies from some very prestigious groups. Asking people to highlight their experience is very subjective and too small a sample to get any meaningful data. If I’d forked out all the money to changeover my fillings I would ensure I felt better as well. Personally I’m sticking with the studies rather than random heresay.
And yet they were building houses in the 50's with it.
I don't think the doctors were out their touting for people to build asbestos houses. Also, we seem to have progressed in the release of information since then - otherwise they would still be dumping toxic tanning products into the rivers.
Why don't you do your own research instead of asking for anecdotes? You could start here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_amalgam_controversy
then proceed to read all the papers cited.
And note this:
The American College of Medical Toxicology and the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology say that research confirms that mercury from amalgams does not cause illness because the amount of mercury that they release is not enough to cause a health problem.[34] In response to some people wanting their existing amalgam removed for fear of mercury poisoning, these societies advise that the removal of fillings is likely to cause a greater exposure to mercury than leaving the fillings in place.[34] These societies warn that removal of amalgam fillings, in addition to being unnecessary health care and likely to cause more mercury exposure than leaving them in place, is also expensive.[34]
Because I prefer anecdotes. Also, thanks for the link.
And that is probably why you feel people are attacking you.
You are using anecdotal evidence, and a very small sample size, to counter higher grade evidence based research.
Agree on the doctor comment.
You're literally arguing from ignorance. People used to believe in a geocentric model of the solar system. They were wrong. It doesn't mean were equally likely to be wrong in believing in a heliocentric model.
If you believed in 'personal experiences', otherwise known as anecdotes, you'd still believe that witches existed.
you'd still believe that witches existed
Meet my neighbour before you reject the idea :)
I'm not arguing anything. I'm just asking for people's experiences. Obviously this has hit a raw nerve with some people for some strange reason.
"Somebody is questioning the narrative - attack him!!"
There's no society of "thinkers" being pursued by a mob with pitchforks.
There's just data, interpreted data and studies by people who have spent decades learning how to make unbiased observations and make sense of it.
People are annoyed because you are rejecting pain staking evidence and insisting on ignorance.
Had an old one decay and was replaced with the white one.
No difference, and the compound itself is now much stronger than what it was back in the day.
Would i or will i get them removed for white ones, lol no
Been told I'll need one (or two) in a few years, was thinking I might go for the classic gold tooth look, but having read this I have definitely changed my mind. Now i will definitely not get them because a person on ozbargain had a friend who said he felt better without metal in his mouth.
My dad had his removed and his headaches went away.
Interesting, thanks for sharing. How old were his ones when he had them out?
interesting place to ask a question about the 2 professions in .AU (Doctors & Dentists),
who most probably would not have the need to visit a site like this
I'm not interested in what Doctors and Dentists have to say - I'm after patients who have had this done.
You'll see in my OP I already know what most Dentists have to say on this.
Hmm..
interested in longevity
BUT
not interested in what doctors have to say
A lot of doctors and dentists also go through the "poor uni student phase" - there's a few of us on Ozbargain haha.
I'm all for longevity but I think it's something you should consider on a population rather than anecdata level. I really like reading about the Blue Zones - the populations on the planet who live well into their nineties with few health issues, and what similarities they have. Haven't seen amalgam fillings or their removal mentioned. Mainly it's been a plant/fish based diet with meat occasionally, lots of walking, and socialising.
There's a strange propensity in society to conjure up a magic bullet for a problem that doesn't really exist, in order to solve existential angst. And since social media, these magic bullets have gotten far more attention and money than they deserve. I think you've seen this exemplified in this thread - the science is what it is, and yet, the anecdata is something different, perhaps because the problem being 'solved' by amalgam removal isn't medical at all.
If longevity is the goal, there's far better things you can do for that. If you just want 'em out, you don't need to justify it, just go and do it and enjoy your new shiny white fillings!
Stop reading longevity books - they'll send you to an early grave.
Almost everyone who lives past 100 has no teeth, so don't stop with the amalgam, remove all your teeth also … my mate's mate's mate's great great grandpappy swears by it … well we assume he does as he's mostly incoherent and throws poop around.
long-gummy-evity
I would leave the fillings in, if it isn't broken don't fix it. I have one mercury filling, I did ask to have a white filling instead but said the cavity was too large for a white filling. I had another badly decayed tooth and was told I needed a root canal, I said no, just remove it and for $350 and 20 minutes later it was removed.
As for health and longevity, I follow a low fat vegan diet, you can save a lot of money by just eating potatoes, peas, beans, corn, pasta, bread etc.
I have a link to some of Ross Horne's books, he was an Australian health food author and worked with Nathan Pritikin. Chapter 12 is titled 'Dieting For Longevity'.
https://soilandhealth.org/book/improving-on-pritikin-you-can…
Cheap solution is to attach the tooth to a small rope, attach the other side of the rope to a door and then slam the door and out it goes.
No more metal in your mouth.
You will feel energized and agonized.
My advice is free of charge.
Better smile before you do the above ha ha ha…
I was told by my dentist not to touch anything unless I needed to, so that's what I'm doing. Always risks involved.
I wouldn't use this defense in court.
Soooooo. Ignore easily preventable problems and come back with expensive full blown problems?
Which Ferrari does he drive?
I had mine removed and to optimize the benefits I also stopped listening to Heavy Metal ;-)
Life is good!
Yeah… unless he was getting heavy metal poisoning from his fillings (which is impossible, see this study), or he had a mercury allergy (which is possible, see same study), I think that would've been a placebo effect.