If you are going to get the poison out of your mouth, I highly recommend you read Dr. Hal Huggin's book first. It's called "It's all in your head". He explains the way you should go about safe amalgam removal with a dentist who is on his approved list. Why extract when you can replace with composite fillings? Also, a good mercury free dentist should order an immune compatability blood test for you in order to determine which materials to replace your amalgams with. This way, you know they won't use anything to which you are sensitive. Regarding your second question about the filling that was removed without protection, unfortunately you were probably exposed to some mercury vapors, but there's no way to know how much or whether it's going to cause you any harm. Some people are more sensitive to the effects of mercury exposure than others.

Sandra