If you don’t mind me asking, how common is the situation I had, were a crack actually went through more than one tooth? I wouldn’t have thought that the contact between the two was so tight that that could happen. I could floss normally between the two, IIRC.
Not a dentist - I had a molar crack/split late last year - during the exam, the molar next to it was also cracked (not broken yet) - I have a tooth missing above those two and said that the bite can occasionally be ‘off’ that would/could cause extra pressure over there when chewing.
So, I don’t think it went ‘thru’ the teeth - I think it just happened that whatever caused the one to crack caused the other - just one fully broke before the other (in my case).
I was not blessed with great teeth. Long story short: I found out a few years ago that my biological father lost pretty much all his teeth by his 20s. When I was in my 20s I decided it was time to get serious about taking care of my teeth (I was in the navy at the time). So for the last 20-odd years I’ve been making semi-annual trips to the dentist, listening to their advice, etc. Last year I decided that I’ve had enough (the hygienist being a bit of a sadist didn’t help). So, I’m no longer going to the dentist. I floss regularly, I brush twice a day, all that stuff. And I think my teeth have probably lasted longer than they would have had I not been taking care of them the way I have been for the last 20+ years, but I figure that how long my teeth last is in the hands of the Fates, now. My point? I’m not sure, except that I think I can understand your frustration when it comes to your teeth. I wish you luck with that. Sounds like you’re gonna need it.
Was this supposed to prove something bad about amalgam fillings?
I’m not even sure what this is supposed to prove.
One study was not even a study, just a case writeup, and another was on the finding that dentists should use both suction and flushing. Another was on the environmental impact of mercury disposal. Another was on the use ofchelation therapyin treating multiple sclerosis. Etc.
I did enjoy the one about how Iranian hairdressers have lower mercury levels if they wore gloves, though.
Regards,
Shodan
While the denial of the harm of mercury in fillings will probably go on as long as the denial over Pinks disease, the harm from the mechanical reasons for not using them is simple enough anyone can understand.
A metal filling requires a hole that the freshly mixed mercury amalgam can be pressed into, at which point it hardens up. At this point it’s a chunk of metal jammed into a hole. It’s not bonded to the tooth, and pressure on it from chewing puts stress on the surrounding tooth material.
Modern fillings are bonded to the tooth structure, strengthening the remaining tooth material. It keeps the tooth from splitting, and since it is bonded to the actual tooth, it won’t become lose, allow bacteria to grow in the area between the filling and tooth, and unlike a metal filling doesn’t transmit heat or cold.
Aside from cost, there is no advantage to using old fashioned mercury fillings.
As we found out, from a dentist, they do put off mercury vapor, which is the most damaging way to get mercury in your system, breathing elemental mercury vapor.
Of course “they” will tell you a little bit of mercury won’t hurt you, just like coal companies say the little bit of mercury (or radioactive material) in coal exhaust is perfectly safe. It’s just a tiny bit, it won’t matter at all.
Meanwhile, in the US alone, almost four tons a year of old mercury fillings end up in waste water treatment facilities, and a billion mercury fillings are put in people’s mouths each year.
Mercury from dentists is the number one source of mercury in waste water. Leaving aside the most contentious issue, mercury in people’s bodies from fillings, the other reasons are more than enough to outlaw mercury as a material for dentistry.
What is “Pink’s disease”? never heard of it.
I have a couple of amalgam fillings nearly 40 years of age. Last few times I was at the dentist I asked about their integrity. He said they, and the teeth, were fine and no reason to disturb anything.
Maybe I just had a really competent dentist when they were put in?
Sometimes cost is a deciding factor - right now I’m unemployed, if I had to get my teeth fixed the cost might make a HUGE difference in what I have done.
Actually, there are some mercury compounds even more hazardous than mercury vapor, like dimethyl mercury. Fortunately, we are unlikely to encounter them in daily life but really, your statement is factually incorrect.
If you live in an urban area of the US you are exposed to far more mercury vapor due to burning coal for power plants than you are from the fillings in your teeth.
Please provide a credible cite for that statement.
Seriously? Please provide a credible cite for that as well.
Again, please provide a credible cite.
Not that sources, facts and data will make any difference at all.
In twenty years nobody I know has ever changed their stance on mercury fillings based on facts or evidence. It’s more of a belief thing than a scientific issue.
Of course it does, it just brands you as a dope that does not know the difference between accumulated contamination of large sources of mercury and the small and deemed safe levels on individuals.
Because you use straw men, the levels of danger are already acknowledged but you continue to lie endlessly about what the scientists and doctors recommend, and all recognized scientific organizations and medical groups do not agree with your alarmism and stupid arguments.
And FX continues to be a cherry picker extraordinaire. The last cite he uses could had ended this hijack a long time ago.
http://www.knowyourteeth.com/infobites/abc/article/?abc=F&iid=286&aid=1242
I expect FX to toss that source he used under the bus as usual.
I don’t see where you came up with a credible cite for the above.
Of course, I also don’t see any credible cites for health problems due to amalgam fillings, so I am not sanguine, but perhaps you can surprise me.
Regards,
Shodan
It must not be obvious that I’m not really trying to convince you, or anyone else, of things I consider matter of fact.
I find it more interesting to watch the denial and avoidance of evidence, to maintain a belief system, which is baffling from a scientific POV
It would be surprising to me if anyone actually said anything new or different when faced with evidence. Like how at first the smoking tooth is handwaved away with “it’s just water vapor”, or “it can’t be mercury vapor”, and when that becomes impossible to deny any longer, the story changes to “it’s mercury but it’s not dangerous”, and then when that gets exposed for the complete horseshit it actually is, the next step is to attack the evidence once more.
So what’s the point? If anyone really wanted to know they would have already Googled and found plenty of evidence that shows mercury is harmful, and that mercury in fillings is bad, but that’s not what a denier wants to find, so they play games, rather than do any research.
So to save time, after real science was donethat proved with out any doubt mercury fillings caused mercury to be a problem, the tactic is to somehow say sheep chew more, and people don’t chew on grass or a cud like a sheep does, so it can’t *really *be a problem for people.
(see? a source and a debunking of it, it saves time)
And when it’s obvious that it’s a real problem for a pregnant woman and children, then the ADA adds that clause I linked to earlier, where children are not supposed to have mercury fillings, and pregnant women are not to get mercury fillings.
Because mercury is not a problem, except for children and pregnant women.
But for everyone else, it’s not a problem.
Just like the coal industry says, a little mercury won’t hurt ya.
Relax.
And also ignore how mercury fillings weaken teeth.
That’s 50% of the mercury entering the sewer, that is NOT 50% of the mercury in the environment. Since there are damn few people pouring mercury down their kitchen drain that’s not surprising. That says nothing about how hazardous that might be.
The other thing to remember is that the mercury used in dentistry is either elemental (if the dentist is making up his own mix) or amalgam, neither of which is well absorbed by the body, unlike organic mercury compounds which are the truly hazardous ones.
Finally, the EPA states that 5,000-8,000 metric tons of mercury are released each year into the environment. Which means dental sources account for between .074% and .046% of what’s polluting the planet each year. This makes your panic over it ridiculous.
About half of the mercury released into the environment every year is from volcanoes and there’s not a damned thing we can do about it. Presumably, it’s this environment level of mercury that has led biological organisms to evolve a means of moving mercury out of their bodies, albeit at a very slow rate.
You know, it’s horrible when dentists use a relatively inexpensive and easy substance to fill cavities – wait, no it’s not. Especially in low-income areas of the developed world, and the third world where other options are not available or priced out of reach.
Cite, please. How does chewing release this vapor? Does chewing raise the temperature of a tooth to the 356 C of boiling mercury? If so, why don’t such people suffer 3rd degree burns every meal? Sublimation? Well, maybe… but provide a cite for the outgassing of mercury vapor from amalgam fillings. You are also, with the use of a phrase like “up to”, presenting the very worst case scenario. That implies an outlier and not the normal course of events.
Now, I am not in any way opposed to finding alternatives for fillings made from non-toxic precursors, but I’m not entirely convinced that the composites are made from wholesome sunshine and fairy dust even if in the end they’re chemically stable. We certainly don’t need mercury in our bodies although as long as there are active volcanoes on the planet we’re going to have some exposure. But I don’t think the level of mercury exposure from fillings is a health crisis and I don’t think we need to go and dig them out of the mouth of everyone with such a filling. I’m much concerned with power plant releases, mercury concentration in the ocean food chain, and other sources much larger and more significant than dental fillings.
So, how are the crowns going so far? Settling in? No sign of needing a root canal?
I’m taking Amoxicillin which is supposed to at least temporarily stop the pain after a couple days, then if it comes back, it needs a root canal. It’s been 5 days though, and the pain hasn’t gone away, so it’s not looking good. The pain is pretty minimal though, especially compared to the supernova of pain before the crowns when it flared up. Advil knocks it out no problem.
As usual the debunking you post is not the whole history, you only show one item and the evidence that indeed, it was not a problem for people.
http://wwwchem.csustan.edu/chem4400/sjbr/Garrett.htm
Just a heads up FX, a very prolific poster called **Handy **was banned for making loopy health recommendations.
No, it’s quite obvious that you are not arguing in good faith.
I note, for example, that you did not cite what you claimed, nor did you provide any cites showing that amalgam fillings lead to health problems in humans.
I don’t find it interesting, since you are just trolling.
Regards,
Shodan
Forget about the toxic mercury problem, the real evil is the weakening of the tooth by using metal fillings.
When decay starts, it’s not some huge hole, and metal fillings can not be used to fix the problem. The dentist that doesn’t use modern materials has to drill a hole big enough to press the mercury filling into. This weakens your fucking teeth, which leads the the problems that led to this fucking topic.
Is it really cheaper if later it causes you to need a fucking crown? or your goddamn teeth split and crack?
Fuck that shit man.
Barbaric it is, putting mercury into a tooth.
Indeed.
Once again, some dentists are just following the fear mongers, but most are just following basic aesthetics and not all are following that either.
Sorry to hear that. Hope the pain fades out. Barring that, hope the root canal goes well.