Was speaking with my sister yesterday and explaining about how the mercury vapors get trapped under crowns and caps and how mercury is supposed to get trapped in root canals.

Her response was: "How did the mercury get under the crown or cap or in the root canal and can't it get out the same way?" Darn good common sense question.

Here's my problem as I go through this process. The dental community that messed us up with mercury and other poor decisions regarding our dental care in the first place are the same ones who we are now trusting to undo the problems they themselves they created.

With all the problems I read here on the board about people who have had with their mercury removal it seems like it is 50/50 that you will come out of this process worse due to dentist error.

Even if the ligaments and what is left in the root canal caused an individual some problems you can also cause a lot of problems by having dentists improperly remove root canals. They can start messing us up below the gum line causing problems in the jawbone, mess up our bite which can cause all sorts of back and skeletal problems. Dental surgery is STILL surgery. Surgery is very hard on the body and a major hit to the immune system.

Take it from someone who has had a lifetime of back problems. You don't want 'em. The jaw reflexes to the lower back. A dentist who messes up your bite sentences you to a life of lower back problems.

I'm proceeding very cautiously 1 amalgam at a time. Root canals? Forget it, I'm going to do enough research on root canals where I could write a thesis before having any of mine removed. Caps or crowns? I want a good explanation as to why the mercury can't get out from under the cap the same way it got in before having any of mine replaced.

I'm proceeding very slowly with both eyes open.

I agree completely, its best to approach these matters with a little sceptism and with lots questions that need answering.

I don't look at the list of mercury symptoms and say, god, I experience over half of them I must be mercury toxic! I simply open myself up to the possibility that mercury might be a problem for me.

I've done plenty of research and looked at both sides of the argument regarding mercury, both provide convincing evidence, but none provide conclusive proof, and I doubt they ever will.
So I'll get my amalgams safely removed anyway and see how it goes. If i improve, great. I may well have been mercury toxic or it could just have been psychosomatic improvement from my inner belief that I was going to get well. If I don't improve I'll accept that mercury wasn't a problem for me and move on with my life.

Definitely the right approach. Going on the internet and researching can make anyone a bit paranoid. I remember the first time I saw the documentary on amalgam poisoning and becoming angry, and wanting to pull my teeth out on the spot.

Although this forum has a lot of great users and helpful advice, it's important to remain skeptical. From what I've learned, amalgams might not conclusively be unsafe (although I'm sure most people here would disagree); but there is no way they are safe. If anything, at least removing the amalgam can give you peace of mind.

I've also had a root canal done, and I'm considering extracting the tooth. But like you, I want to do all the research first before doing something that might hurt my body even more. Best of luck to you and I hope everything goes well.

I can't speak for your situation, but there was more than mercury vapor under my crown. I chose to have it removed to go for a metal-free mouth. When it was removed, there was a very large mercury filling underneath, still all shiny and pretty since it had been hidden from the elements by the crown. According to my dentist, there is really no good way to tell what is underneath until the crown is removed. He said sometimes there is nothing; other times are like mine. Definitely keep doing your own research, though. I just wanted to share my experience and let you know that you may have more than vapor (or you may not)!

You hit the nail on the head, doc. If there was conclusive evidence we'd all sell everything we've got to do what it takes to get 100% health. But there isn't so it is an educated crapshoot.

Thats true duper, I think we all agree they are not safe. If for no other reason than we are swallowing those toxic fumes all the time and that surely can't be good.

Good point about the crown having a mercury filling, law. Of course the best way to probably tell is to have the dentist who put it in look at your chart and tell you. (If you can trust him of course).

My two cents...

I was one of those who went and had everything done last year. I had the 9 amalgams removed/replaced by a biological dentist (glad I did), had the root-canaled abcessed crowned tooth (w/mercury filling) pulled, glad I did, and had 4 other root canaled teeth pulled that were capped with crowns and mercury caps underneath, wished I didn't pull the teeth, just had the crowns replaced with porcelain.

I wish I had proceeded with much more caution as Bex says in her other post. It's beginning to look more and more like I had severe adrenal/thyroid issues and some mercury poisoning. I over did it on the drugs (DMPS, DMSA and ALA) and other supplements, including herbs.

I felt better right after I had my fillings removed, I did have an organ dump 6 months post removal just as Andy said I would and felt awful for 3 months.

It's harder to eat now than it was a year ago. What I am finding is that liver/gallbladder flushes really help me as do some thyroid and adrenal support.

Where I am at now is to reduce everything I am taking to simple things: Vit C, B-12/6, Vit. D, EFA/DHA, calcium/magnesium and digestive enzymes.

I did the Colonix program by Dr. Natura and it worked to get the sludge out. Now I'll continue with just fiber (the other has fiber and herbs). I think one can overload on herbs.

I also noticed its good to proceed like Sunshine said with the parasite and kidney cleanses, when you are up to it. I did the parasite cleanse and am now going to do the kidney cleanse.

From here I'll just do liver flushes and keep the diet clean and very small doses of chelating like Sunshine (12.5 mgs DMSA) so I can function and not overload the rest of my system as I get this out.

I know this is long-winded, but my point is, is that when you're sick, you're desperate to get well and you read about amalgam poison and it's true, it's just that everyone's system is different, everyone is sick on one level or another and you just can't jump into detox. It has to be done slow or you hurt yourself. It can delay or even worsen your condition. Right now I am working to get back to how I used to eat last summer. I ate a non-candida diet but could eat more than I can eat now. I think too many herbs have caused this issue.

I hope this helps others...I wish I had done more research before jumping off the deep end of detox. It scares me how many people on this forum are not doing better or only slightly better after doing many things. I see only one person on here getting better...Sunshine, unless someone else out there has a good report.

glancina, thank you for your post it was very enlightening. As a newbie I'm going to proceed very cautiously with chelation and detox, probably sticking to colon/liver flushes for a couple months.

I haven't read Cutler's book but from what I gather he was a very, healthy man who was poisoned. But many of us have had mercury in us for years and years. Like you say, all systems are different.

Good post.