My greatest fear is having my 4 root canal teeth pulled and 4 spanking new porcelain bridges put in which costs me about $8,000. Then a few months later some other dude writes a book, the new champion of great health, a la Huggins and Cutler claming how bad for you porcelain bridges are and that they are terrible for your health. How they poison every cell in your body and you have to have them all pulled and some other material used in their place for another $8,000.00, plus more pain and agony. Then years of drinking the urine of a pig and ammonia enemas to chelate the procelain that has seeped into my body. Message boards and support groups popping up all over the internet for people whose bodies have been ravaged by replacing their root canals and porcelain bridges. In frustration and depression I spend the rest of my life in an insane asylum staring through the bars of the window of my room at a mercury thermometer mounted outside the plate glass.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sadblownose.gif" alt="" /> Don't say that, I've just spent around 7000 NZ dollars for cerec porcelain to replace my ageing composites!!! lol.

To be honest, every material has drawbacks and we know that. Some porcelains are not so great if they have the metal bases attached (covered by porcelain).

But I think most are ok. I'd say it's a pretty good choice for most people (apart from metal based ones). Huggins talks about aluminium from them, but aluminium is also contained in plenty of composites also, plus aluminium is contained in baking powder, deoderants, cheese etc etc.

Some porcelains maybe more biocompatible than others. Hard to say. A good idea for you would be to get a sample of a bit of that porcelain and get some testing done and/or just do oral testing on yourself. Placing a piece in your mouth next to your gum and cheek a few hours each day and see how you feel, and see if there are any reactions.

You can also go have that piece tested with people who use other forms of testing if you want. I know it may not all be accurate, but it's something at least.

I know how you feel , some days I feel like a salmon swimming up stream against the current , but I know that I have to give it my best effort to get through this , I owe it to my family and myself . don't get sidetracked ,it is very easy to do, we have all been there

That is all we can do, give it our best shot. i have made so many mistakes in my quest to feel normal again and now it has been 2 yrs since removal and im getting new things like TMJ, i can hardly open my mouth and have terrible earache, i swear i got it from oil pulling. my composites are not perfect i found out, they have aluminium and something in them that raises estrogen which has affected me. im hoping to get them replaced again this year with temp fillings but have to sort out my jaw problems. this is a real set back because im supposed to be having a cavitation cleaned but not sure if i can open my mouth wide enough. i feel as though i can see the top of the hill but can never reach it. Dawn x

Dawn, I had TMJ problems too and could barely open my mouth. Found a chiropractor that "adjusted" my jaw using a small, low impact imiplement called an "activator". Helped tremendously!

Here's something you can do yourself to alleviate your TMJ problems which I used and it helped me greatly. Every now and then when my jaw gets real tender I still do this: Take a very hot, wet towel and place it around your jaw area. Try to do it for about 10 minutes running the towel under hot water as it cools to keep it warm.

Then there's exercises you can do. Now if your jaw is so sore you can't do these exercises then start very slow. Make believe you have a pencil in your mouth and starting from the center make a figure 8 clockwise for 10 revolutions. Then do 10 revolutions counter-clockwise. These exercuses will regain flexibility and strength in your jaw so you can start opening it, the hot towels will relax and loosen the muscles. I used this myself and it helped a lot!

James, thankyou so much for that info, im going to try it right now, the pain is sometimes unbelievable.
Dawn.

Dawn, what you are trying to do with the heat and exercises is to gain flexibility and strength in the jaw muscles. They are like any other muscles in the body that become sore and tight.

Now if your pain is shooting type pain then that would be best treated initially with cold towels until your pain becomes more of a soreness rather than a sharp pain. A shooting type pain would indicate potential muscle spasm which is exacerbated by heat. But after it calms down with cold packs (usually 24-48 hours) you can then start the heat/exercise program. Use your judgment

A way to really provide excellent therapy to a muscle group is to use heat for 7-8 minutes then cold for 7-8 minutes and then heat. This REALLY creates blood flow and stimulates healing.

Best Wishes!