Just went to a dentist today for the first time in many years. Glad I did too. Wow. I didn't know until now how many amalgam fillings I have. 12. And, to boot, I have 18 cavities!! 12 cavities are "secondary cavities" which have grown in between the spaces of the amalgam fillings and the teeth. The dentist said that amalgam fillings shrink over the years. This is part of the reason that secondary cavities form. Food gets stuck in the spaces. But at least in my case, neglect of oral hygiene, as well as shunning a sensible lifestyle (including sensible eating behavior) are heavy contributors. I've also lost a significant amount of tooth bone and I have "deep pockets" between my teeth and gums.

I have a few questions.

1. Does anyone have experience with having had amalgams removed? Or any comments, suggestions, references for more information. Anything at all.

I have read that having amalgam fillings removed is a risky procedure. The dentist has to be qualified and talented. Otherwise it's quite dangerous. So I've read. I've also read that there are no studies showing that there is any link between mercury in the amalgam fillings and any health problems. So I haven't decided that I will have these removed, but that's my inclination. I've got a bottle of zeolite NCD on the way. I don't know how I'll deterimine if zeolite will contribute to removing the mercury in my body.

2. Where can I get more information on how to get my mouth in top shape? I am mostly thinking nutritionally, but am not limited to nutrition.

I have been eating quite a lot of leafy greens lately, some wild, some not. I intend to further increase the amount of greens I eat. But I wonder what vegetables I can target or what specific nutrients I can target to focus on oral health. There is a book by a lady named K. "Victoria" Van Cleef called The Perfect Prescription for Your Teeth. She's the one who sells ToothSoap. She says to make sure you get enough of this and enough of that, some of which comes through supplementation. I don't really want to take supplements but I'm not rejecting the idea since I'm in repair and build mode, not maintenance mode. I will not follow her food regime plan because she promotes meat. I'm not interested.

3. Does anyone have experience of healing cavities? Any comments or anything at all regarding this.

Van Cleef says that cavities can disappear. (That's not a quote.) She said something like that in her little booklet. She follows lots of advice of a dentist named Dr. Gerald F. Judd. They say to stop using flouride toothpaste and to use pure soap. So I started using a pure olive soap. Then I read that bamboo salt remineralizes teeth so I've been using this for a while now.

I will do lots and lots of research in the coming days but am open to reading anything from anyone.

There are some bright spots to this otherwise dismal picture. I have a really positive attitude about this. I am not depressed at all.

I have been asking myself for years and years now what it's gonna take to jolt me into sanity. I mean, I've lived a pretty reckless lifestyle for a long long time. That half hour in the dentist chair hit me more strongly than probably anything ever has for as long as I can remember.

I am going to look into visualizing oral health.

The dentist told me that the entire cost of removing the amalgam fillings and replacing them with "resin" will cost about US$70 per tooth (70 X 12 = $840). I remember reading somewhere that someone (maybe on this forum) went to Mexico for the removal. S/he said it would have cost more than US$400 per tooth in the US but got it done far cheaper in Mexico. I couldn't afford it in the US!! I'd go broke.

I am living in South Korea and will be here for another six months. If I go ahead and have these removed, I could do two a month. I've read that it's not a good idea to have many amalgam fillings removed at one time.

The dentist's got some real modern equipment. A video thing that also takes still pictures. Seeing those shots really made an impact on me. Modern equipment doesn't replace talent of course. I'm asking others (in South Korea) for their opinion of his work. I think I've seen somewhere that someone suggests asking dentists pointed questions regarding this procedure to see if they have the ability.

Wow, thanks for coming along and reading to the end!!
Troy.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

Okay, so maybe I should'a done the research first! Anyway, I looked over an old thread called "dental" and it's got lots of things to try out and to read.

sunshine 79, can you tell me how things are going for you please, if you're reading this. I sent you a PM but your box is full.

Thanks.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

TrotSantos,

I had all my metal fillings replaced with white plastic.
There is some info in "A Cure For All Cancers" by Hulda Clarke

My new dentist said the mercury in fillings is "inert" and not harmful.
I was not reassured and will probably not ever use mercury again.

The white fillings look real nice.

Check out this page (scroll down to the links, there are several about amalgams):
[webpages.charter.net]

Gosia


RawGosia channel
RawGosia streams

Hi Troy!

Happy to report that my teeth are doing great. For the most part haven't had any probs except for some occasional minor pain now & then, which has always been easily fixed with the sea saltwater rinse and/or zeolite. I feel like the zeolite is more powerful.

Based on my own experiences it does seem to me that cavities are treatable by balancing the pH of the mouth and/or the whole body, so I would think that anything that has a positive effect on pH balance could help with cavities.

Good luck!

xo
Sunshine

"Just went to a dentist today for the first time in many years. Glad I did too. Wow. I didn't know until now how many amalgam fillings I have. 12. And, to boot, I have 18 cavities!! 12 cavities are "secondary cavities" which have grown in between the spaces of the amalgam fillings and the teeth."

Flossing regularly would probably help to control this.

Almagalms raise the mercury levels in the blood slightly, but not above the regulation standards AFAIK.

As far as natural mouthwashes go, salt water and baking soda and water are very good IMO.

Thanks Dulset and Gosia. I'm looking through that link Gosia. There's quite a lot there. I've read stuff by Dr. Hal Huggins before. I think I've also seen him listed on Quackwatch as someone to be suspicious of. My sister-in-law who is a cancer researcher (ugh) introduced the site to me years ago. I refer to it fairly regularly. I realize there are charlatans in the alternative community (like any other walk of life) so I like to get some balance of perspectives.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

Hi VeganLife. Thanks for your suggestion. I do floss regularly. Twice, on most days. On a thread a while back called "dental" someone posted a link to a site that suggests using salt water and other things for overall oral health. I haven't yet read it but I've got it bookmarked.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

There's another website called Oramedia at [mizar5.com] with lots of info and producst for natural dental care.

Dr. Robert O. Nara wrote a book called Money by the Mouthful..and I bought it and it was very eye opening.

I had all my teeth done, with composite material..no mercury. All mercury fillings are gone..yeah! I do have bridge work, but no more infections in gums or bone..now to take proper care of it all.

Love,
Prism

i went to the dentist just yesterday. he told me that amalgam filling are highly poisonous. i have 5. i do want to get them replaced when i can. it is a a little expensive yes. there is a great interview with a dentist on raw vegan radio.

I think a good question to add here is if people have been able to achieve high levels of health on a long-term raw diet while still carrying nasty mercury fillings.

Thanks everyone for your sharing your time and thoughts.

Sunshine 79 - glad to know that your teeth are doing well. Yeah, pH. I've felt for quite some time now that it's a critical aspect of health. I've checked both my saliva pH and my urine pH and unbelievably, it's pretty alkaline. Above 7 every time no matter how I do it and I've done it in several ways.

I've got a bottle of zeolite coming in the mail soon. I'm thinking it came today while I was away. I'll know tomorrow.

Thanks Prism, for that link. I'll look at it.

Anaken, that's actually quite a good question to raise. I have, however, decided to have at least three amalgams removed. These three are in particularly bad shape. The others, we'll see. Really, this was a good question. I hadn't thought to ask myself this. Like Sunshine says, pH. Could very well be more important than I realize.



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

Troy,
Thank you for your private message. I think my gums are doing ok, and even the fine holes are ok, although my supplementation is not as much as it used to be. How long can one continually buy Klamath lake algae, coq10 etc... I dropped a number of supplements, and added trace mineral drops (concentrace)vitamin D(this winter, but recently ran out) and still take coq10, billberry. My diet is also not as optimal as it could be, and certainly not 100% raw. The pits are there, but not as noticable as before I started my little supplement program. Actually, I don't know what I was doing, so maybe it didn't help.

However, I did get some dental work done on some molars that had previous fillings from about 20 years ago. I really didn't want to get them done, but they were very sensitive and I wanted to get them done while I have dental coverage. My housemate also said it could get worse, and you DON'T want to have a crown or root canal...so I just had it done.

I feel differently. I feel much more conventional than I did just a few months ago. I think in the past I would have felt like I let myself down, or gave into conformity or something. But I realize now that for most people this is just taking care of oneself. To be honest I didn't care for the metal dust, and knowing that i just put in fresh mercury...but I felt like I didn't have much time to make other choices.

Most dentists (from my understanding) don't use mercury filling any longer and if they are then you should find a more up to date dentist. My dentist says he doesn't use mercury only composite materials.

I think it wise to get teeth and gums in shape and make sure especially that there is no infections and if there are to take care of that first. There are also holistic dentists around.

Love,
Prism

Hi guys. It's been four days since I went to the dentist. Since then I've only eaten a tiny bit of non raw food. I shocked myself this morning when biting into an Asian pear that I didn't feel any pain on the one tooth that had been hurting. I thought that maybe it just wasn't cold enough. My apartment is a little bit warmer than the outside air temperature! But even after eating at work, which is always colder than outside air temperature (!) I had no pain from chewing an Asian pear with that tooth! Aside from eating a higher percentage of raw than before, I can't say that I'm doing anything significantly different in my life. Encouraging. And this is the first really striking result that I can say is probably a result of eating so much raw food. Son of a gun!



This way is not compatible with Zen practice. This way IS Zen practice. - Dr. Doug Graham

Nothing whatsoever should be attached to. - Buddha

Hi,

I've read about people with pain/sensitivity in specific teeth healing it after a few days of super-clean raw food living and lots of fluids. I have had that experience myself.

Also, I have had all my amalgams removed. I used to have these intense, anxious moods that I haven't had since they've been out. The plastics aren't problem-free, but are better than the metals. Usually after getting a composite (plastic) filling - I've had a few - I get sick for a few days after, but it's better than the metals, I'm convinced. Dentists are supposed to provide good venting so you don't end up breathing the metal particles when they take out the old filllings. Mine didn't, but I'm glad they're out anyway.

Also, getting your teeth cleaned regularly is so important for controlling the general level of bacteria in the body. Apparently there's a close correlation between dental and whole-body health, with a healthy mouth having a positive impact on the rest of the system.

Another interesting note: even though I have been about half raw at best for the last couple years (:-() each time I get my teeth cleaned the woman comments on how much I salivate and how watery my saliva is; she says this is healthy. Something to think about as another advantage of rawness.