Are your dental fillings wreaking havoc on your immune system and setting the stage for disease to set in? New research shows that might just be the case. The metals used to make dental amalgams can come with a host of ill effects on health and research has shown that these metals can, and do, seep out into your saliva (and into the rest of your body). Mercury is a highly toxic heavy metal, and clearly, putting it in your mouth is a major risk.
Writing for Natural Health 365, John Kall, DMD, explains that the threat of dental amalgams also includes one little-known health condition dubbed "oral galvanism." The condition is caused by chemical interactions between metals in your dental fillings, and the saliva it produces -- which can ultimately lead to oral lesions, autoimmune diseases and other health conditions. Kall serves as the Chairman of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxiocology’s Board of Directors; he boasts a host of other credentials, and is no doubt an expert when it comes to dentistry and oral health. Oral galvanism isn't a condition you'll hear most conventional dentists talking about, but the condition has been studied for decades.
What's going on in your mouth?
As Kall explains, the bevy of metals used to create dental amalgams can interact with saliva and create a small electrical current. This may not sound all that bad, but it can actually put you at risk. In addition to oral galvanism, "galvanic corrosion" is another term often used -- in reference to the corrosion that can end up taking place inside your mouth.
Kall states that there can be a "wide-range of symptoms from oral galvanism have been reported in patients. Galvanic currents have been associated with sharp pains, and galvanic corrosion has been linked to metallic tastes in the mouth, allergy, and irritation."
"Additionally, oral lesions, blackening of crevice surfaces, and all of the symptoms related to mercury poisoning have been linked to oral galvanism from amalgam fillings," he contends further.
As Kall explains further, the number of dental alloys used in dentistry has increased over the years -- and research has indicated that these fillings are emitting even more mercury than past formulations. This can spell even more trouble for patients.
Mercury in dental fillings leaks, can contribute to autoimmune disease
Mercury is known for being toxic -- so why do so many people believe that putting in their mouth in the form of a dental filling is safe? Research has shown that mercury in dental fillings can easily leak out, and from there, all kinds of health problems can result. Research from 2003 has even linked mercury in dental fillings to autoimmune disease.
In 1994, researchers also found that dental amalgams were associated with accumulations of mercury and silver in the spleen and liver, which may contribute to the deleterious effects fillings can have on the immune system. The researchers wrote:
Accumulation of heavy metals, from dental amalgam and other sources, may lower the threshold of an individual metal to elicit immunological aberrations. We hypothesize that under appropriate conditions of genetic susceptibility and adequate body burden, heavy metal exposure from dental amalgam may contribute to immunological aberrations, which could lead to overt autoimmunity.
To make matters worse, research has also recently shown that under the pressures of new high-powered MRI machines, dental amalgams can leach out mercury in shockingly high amounts. In studies, subjects with dental amalgams produced four times as much mercury than controls -- in just 20 minutes. It's no surprise then, that mercury in fillings can cause health problems.
