The book, It’s All in Your Head, The Link Between Mercury Amalgams and Illness by Hal Huggins, DDS, MS is a work of utmost importance. Since dental health has been completely compromised from our poor food supply, nearly every person has suffered the consequences and required cavitation surgery–the placement of fillings in the teeth. However, the most common material used for this important–literally “life-saving” treatment–not only contains at least 54% mercury, but is mixed with other metals (copper, silver, tin and zinc) that increase the mercury toxicity through galvanization–an electrical current produced from two or more dissimilar metals. So while the teeth are protected from further decay, the resulting heavy metal toxicity may be devastating to health.
Huggins discusses that mercury attacks the body in many ways so the symptoms of mercury poisoning vary from person to person. He states that “Mercury kills cells by interfering with their ability to exchange oxygen, nutrients and waste products through the cell membrane. Inside the cell, mercury destroys our genetic code, DNA, leaving us without the ability to reproduce that cell ever again. Immunologically, mercury embeds itself in a cell membrane, giving the cell the appearance of being”non-self, ” which is the trigger for the immune system to destroy that specific cell. With mercury in your cell membranes, the immune system will start destroying your own tissues, thus the term autoimmune disease. Examples of these are diabetes, multiple sclerosis, scleroderma and lupus.” Courageously, Huggins, and the growing community of biological dentists have shown us that many of these serious illnesses may be reversed through the proper removal of these amalgams.
Huggins categorizes the medical diseases he saw as related to amalgams into five categories:
- Neurological (motor and sensory)–tremors, seizures, MS, ALS, Alzheimer’s, emotional disturbances, unexplained depression, anxiety, unprovoked suicidal thoughts
- Immunological–lupus, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis
- Cardiovascular–unexplained heart pains, irregular heart beat, high and low blood pressure
- Collagen–ie osteoarthritis and diseases that affect the collagen
- Miscellaneous–chronic fatigue, brain fog, digestive diseases and Crohn’s disease
Below is a list of common symptoms from his extensive study that are suspected to be of dental origin:
- Unexplained irritability
- Constant or frequent periods of depression
- Numbness or tingling in extremities
- Frequent urination at night
- Unexplained chronic fatigue
- Cold hand and feet, even in moderate weather
- Bloated feeling most of the time
- Difficulty with short-term memory
- Constipation on a regular basis
- Difficulty in making decisions
- Tremors or shakes of hands, feet, head, etc.
- Twitching of face and other muscles
- Frequent leg cramps
- Constant or frequent ringing or noise in ears
- Shortness of breath
- Frequent or recurring heartburn
- Excessive itching
- Unexplained rashes, skin irritation
- Constant or frequent metallic taste in mouth
- Jumpiness and nervousness
- Constant death wish or suicidal intent
- Frequent insomnia
- Unexplained chest pains
- Constant or frequent pain in joints
- Tachycardia
- Unexplained fluid retention
- Burning sensation on tongue
- Headaches just after eating
- Frequent diarrhea
Through the careful removal of amalgams, biological dentists are helping people to overcome serious health issues caused by heavy metal toxicity. As we move forward in understanding all of the necessary components to reversing and preventing dental carries and chronic illness through nutrient-dense foods, we will hopefully provide future generations with the correct knowledge to alleviate the necessity of dental fillings. In the mean time, we must be cognizant of the wide ranging symptoms of mercury toxicity so that we may understand their root cause, which diet alone will not correct.
Best in health,
Kathryne Pirtle
For more information on building health and healing with nutrient-dense foods see Performance without Pain and our new e-book on healing acid reflux.