***Dangers of Mercury in your Mouth

Named after the Greek mythological fleet-footed messenger of gods, Mercury is an element of nature, but behaves just the opposite. It is rather slow- a slow poison. Despite the fact that mercury is not at all required by the body, it has been found in alarming proportion in human beings. This is because of the constant exposure to mercury from large fish, thimerosol (a pharmaceutical preservative) and dental amalgam. Highest Exposure Risk Out of these exposure risks, the greatest danger of mercury exposure is faced by adults who opt in for amalgam fillings. Mercury vapor is either inhaled during the process of root-canal treatments or is swallowed. The mercury vapor that is inhaled is in vapor form is elemental, metallic mercury. These inhaled mercury vapors have a high tendency to get absorbed into the body tissues. Once inhaled, mercury permeates through the pulmonary membrane and gets dissolved in plasma. It remains in the plasma as a dissolved gas and challenges the diffusion barriers of the body. Apart from mercury vapors, the dental amalgam fillings also leak out mercury into our system. Our oral cavity contains a lot of bacteria. These bacteria act on the dental fillings and release an organic and highly toxic form of mercury- methyl mercury. Methyl mercury requires no effort to enter the human cell, and once it has entered the cell it wreaks havoc. Mercury damages the DNA, releases lysosomes and often ruptures the cell wall. The blood-brain barrier of the Central Nervous System allows the passage of oxygen and other substances that are useful for metabolism, while keeping out unnecessary chemical substances. Mercury crosses this barrier and enters the brain cells. On entry into the cells of the body, mercury goes through an oxidation reaction and turns into inorganic ions (Hg2+), also known as divalent mercury. With time, mercury accumulates in the body cells proving a potential health hazard. Excretion of Mercury The liver and kidneys, that are responsible for breaking down toxic substances into simpler forms in order to throw them out of the body, cannot break down heavy metals such as mercury. Therefore mercury accumulates in the body, posing a potential threat to health. Health Hazards The health hazards of mercury include severe neurological and cardiovascular disorders that have come to light in the recent past. The neurological disorders include tremors (limbs, eyelids, etc), muscular rheumatism, abnormal sensations of the skin, impaired vision, memory loss and depression. Some cardiovascular and respiratory disorders include irregular heartbeat, irregular breathing, pain and discomfort in the chest and alterations in the blood pressure. Besides these, the gastrointestinal, endocrinological, urinogenital and psychological symptoms caused by mercury cannot be overstated. Effects on the Neonate Studies conducted on animals using mercury tagged with radioactive material showed how far mercury from dental amalgams can travel through the body. When occlusal amalgams that contained mercury were implanted in the molars of pregnant animals, it was found that it took no more than three days for mercury to reach the fetus. Furthermore, the concentration of mercury in the tissues of the fetus were said to be considerably higher than that found in the mate al tissues. What is shocking is that the level of mercury began to rise to dangerous levels in the fetus within a few months. Mercury readily permeates across the placenta and enters the red blood cells and the fetal tissues. Furthermore, since the fetus does not sweat, produce bile or excrete matter, the mercury accumulates to dangerously high levels. High amounts of mercury were also found in the milk during lactation, thus exposing the neonate to mercury toxicity. This can give us a fair idea of the potential dangers of going in for dental amalgams during pregnancy. It was also proved that the amount of mercury found in the breast-milk and urine of human mothers had a direct correlation with the number of amalgam fillings. Mercury toxicity can cause almost every illness including chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and cancer. The fact remains, that mercury toxicity due to dental amalgams can be totally avoided.