Congratulations on finding an office that is dedicated to keeping you safe through your amalgam (mercury) filling removal and replacement process! We are so glad that you value your health. To keep you safe and to keep ourselves safe during this process, we have a safe mercury protocol in place. We are accredited and SMART certified by the IAOMT (International Academy of Oral and Medical Toxicology) and follow their protocol strictly; however, there are still some things that we offer for extra protection. Every patient is different, and each person wants a different level of protection. This guide is meant to educate you on what we can offer you in this office, and to help us get an idea of how protected you want to be. We will start by explaining our basic set up for safe mercury removal, and then discuss optional protocols that you may or may not want.

Basic Protocol

Patient has alternative air source to breathe– we do this using a nose piece that has oxygen or medical grade air flowing into it. We encourage you to breathe through your nose during the procedure as much as possible. Studies show that when mercury fillings are drilled out, there is some mercury vapor that congregates over your face and in the doctor’s working space. This alternate air source protects you from inhaling any mercury vapor or other aerosols that may not be great for the body.

Eyes Covered- Eyes are protected patient safety glasses.

Dental dam and Isodry- The dental dam covers the tissues of the mouth and prevents exposure while the mercury fillings are being removed. Once the mercury fillings are removed, the dam is taken off, and your mouth is thoroughly flushed with water. An isodry is placed to finish the dental work. An isodry is a mouth piece that is designed to hold the tongue back, allow you to rest your jaw, and suctions at the same time.

Chlorella Mouth Rinse– This is given before the mercury fillings are removed and after the removal. This rinse is made to bind mercury and other metals.

Ozone Water and Ozone Gas- Ozone is anti-bacterial/fungal/viral/parasitic. We use ozonated water while drilling, and when rinsing your mouth. This helps kill bad bugs, and actually cleans the tooth as we are drilling. We also make sure that when we are drilling the fillings out we use a lot of water. This reduces heat, the mercury vapor, and aerosols around the working area. Once fillings are removed and teeth are prepared, ozonated gas will be placed on your tooth before any filling material is placed. Ozone penetrates up to 4 mm into the tooth, and stimulates the healing process, reduces sensitivity, and can actually reverse cavities, letting the tooth heal on its own.  Ozone allows us to be more minimally invasive, and studies are showing that ozone can increase the strength of the bond between filling and tooth, as well as reduce the chance of a cavity forming underneath. So overall, we love it and use it on everybody.

Cutting Out vs Drilling Out– We use a small bur to cut the mercury fillings out instead of drilling them out. If we can cut and remove chunks of the filling, we will be creating less aerosol and therefore, less mercury vapor.  Every tooth is different, and sometimes we do have to drill the fillings out, but we always try to cut out in big pieces first.

High Vacuum Suction- Our Dental Assistant will hold the high vacuum suction close to the tooth to suck up vapor while the drilling is taking place. This significantly reduces the amount of vapor in the air.

HEPA/Charcoal Filter Under Chin– We know that some mercury still may escape from our high vacuum suction, which is why we use a HEPA/Charcoal  filter that goes under your chin. The one in our office is named Snuffleupagus, we call him Snuffy for short.

Patient Body Covered– We place a sheet from chin to past the knees to reduce any vapor that may get on your clothes. Once mercury fillings are removed, the sheet is taken off, and a normal bib is placed.

Negative Ion Generator– This generator has a stream of air that flows over the patient and operating space. This machine binds mercury and pulls it to a plate on the other side of the room.  How do we know it works?  Well every few weeks we clean it…. And you can see the mercury (black particulate) for yourself!

Activated Charcoal– We give this to all patients before filling removal. This will help bind any mercury in the gut that may get swallowed in the process of removal.

Extra Steps of Protection

We highly recommend that anyone thinking about mercury removal see a naturopath or functional medicine doctor for preparation and detox support. They can help guide you on when to remove, and decide if your body is ready, how much to remove, etc. Mercury is very hard to get out of the body, and if you have several mercury fillings and do have high mercury in the body/brain, you may want to start prepping your body for detox BEFORE you remove your fillings. And we highly recommend a metal detox post amalgam filling removal.

To learn more check out our podcast: https://podcasts.bcast.fm/e/28xkj6rn-mercury-fillings-what-you-need-to-know

Optional Protocols

Each patient may vary in the amount of protection they want. We are happy to customize your experience in our office.

Mercury binding face cream or face cover- Your face is close to the operating field and we want to protect you.  To protect face we have 2 options.

• Face cover- we can cover your face with a sheet and remove once removal process is over. Some patients find this unpleasant because they cannot see.
• We offer a cream that goes on the face that is made to bind mercury. You can rub on your face, and at the end of removal, can wash off.  We do have face wash and towels in office, but if you have sensitive skin, you may want to bring your own.  If you are concerned about the product we use you can find ingredient info here: http://www.actontech.com/pdf/msds-hgx-hc-201205.pdf

Biocompatibility Testing– Since you are having your fillings removed and replaced, wouldn’t it be nice to know that the material used is compatible with your individual body? Studies show that it takes only 2 minutes for a material placed on the dentin (inner part) of the tooth to show up in the blood.  So what we put in and on our teeth really does matter. We offer biocompatibility testing through Biocomp Labs. This test will show us what materials are compatible with your body and which are not, so that you have the reassurance that the materials we use are not harming your body. These tests need to be done BEFORE any dental work is done. The cost of testing is in the $350-$400 range. If you require consultation with doctor about test, there is an additional consultation fee.

https://biocomplabs.com/

For those patients that would like to be muscle tested by their practitioner, we offer a kit with all of the materials we use in our office.

Jaw Pain- We offer TENS for patients that have had jaw pain after dental visits in the past, or for long appointments. TENS helps relax the jaw muscles, bring oxygen to the tissues, and makes for faster recovery. There is an additional cost for this service. Please let us know if you would like this before your appointment so we can prepare for you. We also offer a laser treatment that helps to relax the muscles and reduces pain.

Other Offered Amenities

Anxious Patients– We offer nitrous, oral sedation, and electro stimulation therapy/alpha stim (https://www.alpha-stim.com/alpha-stim-technology/anxiety) for our anxious patients. There is no charge for alpha stim, but be sure to let our scheduling coordinator know when setting up your appointment what you will want so we can be sure to have it ready for you. We allow general or IV sedation, but patients are responsible for the cost of an anesthesiologist. Nitrous is available for an additional cost.

Head Phones– We provide headphones for all appointments so you can listen to your favorite music or we have video streaming available so you can watch your favorite show.

Warm Neck Wrap– We offer warm neck wraps before your appointment to help keep you relaxed during your visit.

Blankets, Pillows– Anything we can do to make your appointment more comfortable, let us know. J

What we do to protect us

We also want to be protected (after all, we are around this all day long). We also wear a mask (we call them our Darth Vader masks), that filters the mercury out of our breathing space. We wear disposable gowns, hair nets, and protective eye wear. We also always wear latex free gloves and Mercon hand cream to protect our hands. Once all of the mercury fillings are removed, we remove all of our protective wear (yes, the Darth Vader mask goes). We then put on new gloves, masks, etc.

What we do to protect the environment

Where does all this mercury go? When we suck up mercury, the mercury gets filtered out.  Every year, we have to have someone come out and take our collected mercury.  They then dispose of it in an appropriate way.  Many times mercury sludge will be put into the fertilizers that help grow our food! YIKES!  We have attached a fact sheet from the IAOMT if you want to read more.

https://iaomt.org/resources/dental-mercury-facts/