I can't answer all of your questions, but I can tell you what my dentist told me....to take 2000mg of vitamin C with bioflavinoids (like ester C) everyday, and rinse with (aka hold in your mouth until you can't stand it anymore) and swallow Oreganol (oregano juice) twice a day for about a week before coming in. 24 hours before your appt, STOP taking the vitamin C, because you won't numb right, if you don't.

This is my dentists procedure, I'm sure many others are different. I don't have my amalgams out yet, because I wasn't ready at the time of my consultation to pay so much, but they had me folow this protocol to get ready, just in case I was having them removed that day.

You can go to iaomt.org and search for a dentist. It looks like their might be quite a few in your area. It doesn't always list their websites, and if you see someone listed without one, you can usually search google and find if they have a webpage. That's what I did with mine. Hopefully this will help you a little.

I want to get mine out soon, and I wish you luck on yours. Please keep us updated on how it goes.