I am so frustrated. 10 years ago I had amalgram fillings that cracked off and have been exposed ever since. Soon after they cracked off I started getting headaches, eye pain, and light sensitivity. I have been to over 20 doctors with no answers. I went to neurologist, internal medicine doctors, opthamologists, infectious disease doctors. You name it I have tried it. I even thought I had lyme disease. I recently called the Hal Huggins hotline for information about their protocol and a referral to a mercury free dentist that does their protocol. They wanted to charge me 35.00 for a book that covers their protocol. And when I questioned what the 35.00 was for the girl from his office was very snotty and defensive. I am like it takes 35.00 just for you to tell me about his protocol and the costs involved. On his website it says to call for any information about costs and a treatment plan. Then I was referred to a Huggins protocol dentist in my area. I asked how much the cost of removal and fillings are. They were so rude and cold. I was floored. They were saying oh it's 360.00 for the initial visit with x-rays. I said well how much is it per tooth and such. The girl said well we don't quote prices over the phone until we see your mouth. I could not believe that she could not tell me in general the prices. I live on SSI and have to be able to afford this somehow. I mean these people are so cold. I said I needed a letter stating that they believed my conditions can be improved in order for me to get social security to pay for it. She said they would not write the letter until I paid for the first visit and biocompatibility test. I then hung up with her cuz she was just too rude for me to not end up exploding on her. So I called the other dentist they referred me to. This one was wore then the other place. I mean if you are on a budget and metion that to Huggins dentists they treat you like you are worthless. I mean it is depressing enough having to deal with pain for the last 10 years over this stuff and then they have to make it worse by being so rude. It sounds like if you don't have the money then Huggins and his protocol could care less about you. His site make it sound like he is Mother Theresa's brother. Well I found out differently. I have decided not to deal with the Huggins protocol. I am looking for a biological dentist in the Chicago area next to see if they can be more flexible and accomodating. I mean when I am willing to pay for your service you need to treat me like a customers should be treated. I don't personally know if the huggins protocol is worth it. I just can't afford to blow money and then find out if it is or not.

This is deplorable. I would steer clear after service (lack of) like this and the cold and indifferent attitude towards your plight. I have indeed heard of similar regarding the Huggins crowd and the fact it appears that greed may have crept into the bargain somewhere alone the line.

I have actually purchased what I thought was an Ebook online on candida. I don't think it was even a page long and certainly the information in it was unhelpful and to my mind misleading and pretty contradictory. I feel that they will use any excuse to charge for anything and everything.

I've heard similar from others who have been rather disgusted and shocked at the charges for other things.

At any rate, definitely move on. Any biologic dentist should be more than happy to answer your questions before getting you in for a consultation. Consider the fact that they are our servants, not our masters. We employ them! So in a sense, we're the boss. They have to answer our questions and we have to be comfortable and satisfied enough before we decide to use them for the job.

Instead, I am finding ego has crept into the dental industry with a number of dentists who seem to think they call the shots in every area. They refuse to answer questions on email/letter/phone and instead try to suck you into a consultation. When this happens? I move on. I know full well that a dentist who does this is more interested in his own gain, rather than my welfare and doing me a service.

They should be able to do provide the following to you before you even see them: What amalgam removal protocol they follow, what protection is provided during removal? What alternative dental materials they use and what are the names of them (composites, bonding, lining, porcelains). Will they provide a sample of these materials so I can get them tested? What kind of cost could I be looking at for amalgam removal (each tooth), just an estimate/example is fine.

All this should be answered before you decide to see them and go further. A true caring dentist will try and answer as much as he/she can to gain your trust and later your custom. A professional would do this. Yes there are things they cannot do having not seen you, but there are things they CAN do. So look for a dentist that will do this for you. You, like myself, probably do not have much money to throw around and you do not need to pay for consultations only to find out you are not happy with that dentists' procedures and ending up poorer eachtime. This is NOT ON.

At any rate, I don't know if this link will be of help to you.
http://www.holisticdentalnetwork.com/directory.php#USA But just in case it can, there are a list of dentists there that might be near to you (I am not familiar with US, so I do not know).

You can also "ask the doctor" (top of that page) if you may require help and he maybe able to aid you in finding a good and helpful biologic dentist hopefully in your own area!

I myself have had to email dentists and I've come across some real cold shoddy ones who refused to answer questions, to ones that side stepped my questions and tried to get out of answering direct ones, to ones that were wonderful and gave me straight answers and even sent me a sample of their materials so I could get them tested.

So you have to really shop around. You may never find perfection, but you should be able to find one that is a little better than the others!

here is another site that may help you find a dentist in your area www.iaomt.org
you also may want to invest in the book" amalgam illness" it has alot of excellent info on mercury poisoning and how to help cure yourself

THank you so much. It is so refreshing to hear from someone that understands. I thought is it me being too senitive or am I just expecting too much. Thank you for reaffirming the point that I am the customer and should at the very least be treated with respect. I am loving this forum. People are not judgemental and attacking me. That is a first.

You're welcome compcoll <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Believe me, your situation is really common. I've heard the same from others on here about dentists as well and I breathed a sigh of relief to know I wasn't the only one experiencing this. It seems so many of us have experienced the same kind of arrogance and you reach a point where you're almost scared to annoy them or afraid to ask them this or that, like walking on broken glass around them. It's ludicrous. I hate to colour all dentists with the same brush because I know there are wonderful ones out there and I am not directing this at them. But the other ones? I have to wonder where the attitude comes from ...they work with teeth <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shiftyeyes.gif" alt="" /> It's not brain surgery. I'm not putting down their profession, but I just have issues with why some seem to have a big problem providing any information for free....yes its their time, but it's OUR money! And a few minutes to state an idea of cost or the name of a few dental materials, or what they provide during amalgam removal is not going to kill them either.

Anyway, I went about it like this. I typed up a letter/email online of what exactly I wanted to ask the dentist and then emailed the same email (or printed it out to send as a letter) to all the dentists I wanted to enquire about and simply altered the name. I just waited to see which ones answered and the answers I was happy with and from there I went further.

Two dentists out of those I emailed were responsive and helpful. One of those was a mainstream dentist believe it or not, but he undestood my situation and gave me straight answers on what materials he used and at my request, sent me a hardened sample of each so I could test them! and though he did use amalgam in his surgery, he understood the needs and wishes of those who reacted to it. He also was very sympathetic to my sickness. Perhaps oneday he himself may rid his surgery of amalgam (I sure hope so).

From there, over a few months of waiting and saving money, I finally went to see him and don't regret it one bit. Though I did not have my amaglams removed by him (they were done many years ago), he removed my white ageing composites and replaced them with cerec porcelain.

www.dams.cc, Bernie will send you a packet for free with a list of RECOMMENDED biological dentists in your area. I also highly suggest doing your own internet search for your area for biological dentists. www.iaomt.org is also real good. I called and they DID give me prices over the phone. I asked EXACTLY what does mercury removal cost, and/or the cost of an inlay, onlay or new crown, initial xrays, etc. That's how I found my dentist. I made a chart on computer and compared prices and customer service. I think I called 4 or 5 dentists in my area. I did have to travel for an hour to get a reasonably priced one, but it was wortth it. He followed the exact mercury removal protocol that's in the packet Bernie sends you and I NEVER mentioned Huggins protocol, just SAFE mercury removal protocol. That might help you...