Bex, this entire situation with mercury is so frustrating and maddening as there's so many unknowns and too few answers. Not that I'm telling you and everyone else on here who has had the procedure anything new.

I considered doing the compatibility testing but it cost around $1,000 for the blood tests and I didn't want to make that kind of investment and even if I did I'm not sure how accurate it would be either and I didn't want to wait a week to 2 weeks for them to come back. I made an individual assesment that the amalgams were so toxic to me that getting them out was paramount. Judgment call, time will tell if it was right or wrong.

Reading up on electrodermal it sounds like it is a very iffy process as reports say that they've tested people via blood then double tested them on electrodermal and they are often different. Or they test them on electrodermal then send them back a few days later and the tests are all different. So as consumers what are we to think?

I'm assessing the performance of the dentist I used for the first amalgam and wonder how important the rubber dam actually is. Huggins says a lot of dentists don't use it and doesn't appear to push on that issue. But I called another mercury removal dentist and talked with the technician and she says they wouldn't work on a patient unless they agreed to use the rubber dam. But the same office that insists on the rubber dam doesn't use the the external oxygen !

The dentist whose website you pointed out had a heart problem that he thinks was caused by mercury and also his doctor won't let him go back to "practicing" so he only does consultations. He has the dentist who took my 1 amalgam out yesterday only come in on Wednesdays so I'd be violating the 7-14-21 rule. Asked the head guy about that today, he said the 7 isn't very crucial but the 14 would be.

Called yet another dentist today who was out for the rest of the week. Told his receptionist that I would fax a letter to them with questions about their removal protocol and also request info on what their fees are. May do that for a couple others too.

Btw, I think it would be helpful if the people on the board put together a nice form letter which newbies can send to dentists that has a checklist on protocol, concerns, asks for fees, etc. that could be faxed to the dentists as they initially start the process. Would've helped me a lot.

I usually am not anywhere near this vigiliant and making purchases or decisions. But like many people here we've had health situations and we all understand how crucial our heath is.

Bex, when you and others mention reactions you've had to the amalgam removals and the materials put in it makes me wonder. Could it be that you are reacting to all the supplements and chelation products, etc. that you are taking? Could the new materials be reacting to all the supplements? Some of the worst reactions that I've ever had have been in response to supplements not food, medicine, or anything else.