What is in your dental fillings and are they safe?
By Andrea H. Brockman, BSN, DDS
 

You broke a tooth and found out that you need a crown. Your daughter who wears braces has four new cavities and your father is suffering from a burning mouth ever since he got a new partial denture. Discomfort, incapacitation, and invasion into a private space contribute to vivid memories that you are continually reminded of by the foreign material placed in your mouth. You may feel vulnerable sitting in the dentist's chair , but you should also exercise good judgment by becoming knowledgeable about what is being placed into your body.
 

To appreciate the association of dental materials with health, we must first recognize that there are literally thousands of manufactured dental products approved for human use. The truth is, however, that no dental material is safe for everyone. In fact, any foreign substance introduced to the body has the potential of stimulating an acute or long-term reaction to the individual's biochemistry. That means that any material placed into the mouth by a dentist can be a factor in some form of sensitivity. Whether or not a dental material is compatible to your system, you have a right to know the contents of the product and the prerogative to exercise informed consent as to what is permanently placed into your mouth.
 

The first point of awareness comes with taking stock with what is in your own mouth. Do you even know how many fillings you have? How long have you had them? What are they made out of? Do you have any crowns? What kinds of metals are they made of? Is there anything underneath them, like pins, posts, buildups, cements, or root canals? Do you have bonded fillings or veneers? Maybe you have implants or a synthetic bone graft. Have you ever worn braces? Do you wear dentures or partials? How about a retainer, night guard, or athletic appliance? Have you had fluoride treatments or your teeth bleached? What is in your toothpaste or mouthwash? How many times have you had a local anesthetic or dental x-rays?

Let us face facts. Your mouth is at the entrance to your respiratory tract and your digestive system. It is an area that is more open to the elements than perhaps anywhere else in the body is; yet the hazards of dental materials are almost never recognized to be a factor in any illness. The dental materials that are permanently placed in your teeth are continually exposed to extremes of temperature, corrosive acidic foods, and bacteria. Drilling out and placing new fillings creates an aerosol of toxic materials and microorganisms that are quickly absorbed into your body. That hole in your head known as your mouth is in close proximity to your brain, cranial nerves, master hormone gland, and immune system. Do you think that it may be time to consider the consequences of dentistry and perhaps give attention to what appears not to be significant?
 

Let us look at some effects of incompatibility to dental materials. Very simply, there are chemicals that can burn the skin, eyes, mucous membranes, or internal organs if ingested or inhaled. They are considered caustic. Most acid etchants used to prepare teeth for bonding, or chemicals used to kill nerve tissue or strong bleaching agents are examples of caustic materials. Other dental products are known irritants such as solvents or aerosols that can irritate the eyes, skin, or respiratory tract. Many solvents are used in making temporary crowns, denture relines, custom impression trays or orthodontic retainers. Most aerosols contain a percentage of easily inhaled fine particles that cause immediate injury to lung tissue as well as additional harm when absorbed into the blood stream. It should be known that every dental material drilled out, polished or micro etched ends up as an aerosol!
 

It is more than likely that dental materials can stimulate an allergic reaction or an abnormal response of the immune system. The effects may not be immediately manifest and may lead to autoimmune reactions. Chronic hazards such as carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, and reproductive effects are possible that are not dependent on the dose. It is a myth that exposure to chemicals or heavy metals is minimal and that the hazard, therefore, is minimal. The dose does not equal the poison. No safe exposure threshold to a toxin exists. In addition, the widespread use of chemicals in agriculture has increased the toxicity of both our food supply and the environment. We appear to be in a relative state of health as long as all other stress components in our lives do not add up to spilling over our buffer zone. However, once we have crossed over our threshold, everything including dental materials can be a factor in a diseased state.
 

In an article about dental materials, not to discuss metal restorations would be an obvious omission. It is worth mentioning that there are well over 1000 different metallic alloys used in dentistry in such items as fillings, crowns, bridges, partial dentures, precision attachments, splints, orthodontic brackets, wires and springs, pins, posts, stainless steel crowns, implants, micro-etchants and many porcelains containing aluminum. Electrical currents are generated between dissimilar metals creating a battery in the mouth that discharges metal ions from the restorations into the body. The electromagnetic energy can have significant negative effects on the "Body Electric". Gold crowns are not pure gold and are alloyed with other metals to increase its strength. The so-called "Gold" crown can vary in the alloy from 2% to 92%. Nickel, the most allergenic, carcinogenic metal known is the most popular of these reinforcing alloys with reactions similar to mercury toxicity.

Mercury, the greatest biohazard of all the toxic dental materials, continuously vaporizes from amalgam restorations. The amount of mercury in a small one surface filling is equivalent to the amount of mercury in a thermometer. How many thermometers are in your mouth? A fact often not considered is that exposure to combinations of multiple metals causes substantial mutual magnification of the others' toxic effects. Bear in mind that it is not unusual to have amalgams, crowns, partials, implants, braces, posts, and pins all present in the mouth.
 

Composite resins can have compatibility problems. Many contain a metallic salt so that the restoration will appear opaque on an x-ray. Some contain a chemical (Bis-phenol A) that mimics estrogen thereby disrupting the endocrine system. Porcelains may contain 25% to 45% aluminum oxide. Many contain allergenic pigments and stains and most have a metal substructure. The pink color in denture bases and gutta percha (a latex root canal filling material) is often a cadmium or mercury salt.
 

Seldom is brain fog, fatigue, or irritability associated with toxicity. It would seem prudent to consider the possibility of a dental contribution to symptoms where no other known causes can be made certain. How would one find out if a product is appropriate for them?

1. First would be to ask what ingredients are in the material being used.
2. Second, a material reactivity blood test can be taken to detect the presence of antibodies to ingredients found in thousands of dental products. A computer-generated list of suitable and immunologically reactive materials is provided.
3. Energetic testing is also useful to determine if a material is suitable for use in the mouth. A practitioner competent in muscle testing or who uses bioenergetic testing devices can customarily assess the use of a compatible dental product.
    

In conclusion, the consumer as well as the dentist must have an awareness of biocompatibility and the correlation to a state of well being. Few dental products have no risk and some products deserve extreme caution where a1temative materials should be used. The dentist is more than a carpenter and the patient is more than a tooth. Safekeeping your dental health is the responsible way to live-a happier and a healthier life.

Andrea Brockman BSN, DDS