Reviews: I have a mouthful of silver fillings. I learned a few weeks ago they are mostly made of mercury. This terrifies me because of the neurotoxicity. I went to my dentist and asked him to remove them and replace them with the white fillings. He refused because he said it’s too dangerous for me because I’ll inhale the mercury. If it’s too dangerous to take out, surely it’s too dangerous to keep in. What should I do?
Maya
Dear Maya,
It is understandable that you’re nervous about having a large amount of mercury in your mouth. There is a special procedure known as a sanitary amalgam removal which is designed to protect you from inhaling or swallowing any mercury.
However, it sounds like your dentist doesn’t know that procedure. It wouldn’t be safe for you to have him do the removal. If you are serious about removing them, your best option would be to locate a mercury-free dentist in your area. Almost all of them know how to do this procedure and already has the necessary equipment.
Mercury-free Fillings and Tooth Color
Before you get your white fillings, you want to think about your tooth color. The filling material can be made to match your teeth. However, the color is permanent. If you decide to whiten your teeth later, your natural tooth structure will whiten, but not the composite fillings.
That doesn’t bother some people at all. If you feel that way, then no problem. However, if it will bug you the simple solution is the get your teeth bleached before you switch out your fillings. You can do that two different ways.
Your first option is to have your dentist make you custom fitted trays and provide you with professional strength whitening gel. This will allow you to whiten at home as well as control the level of whitening.
If you want it to work faster, so you can get your fillings removed sooner, you can look at Zoom Whitening. This is an in-office procedure which gets your teeth very white in just one appointment.
This blog is brought to you by New Orleans Dentist Dr. Duane Delaune.