I would never get amalgams. Studies show that when you eat acidic
foods your saliva
has higher concentrations of mercury. The fillings loose their mercury
and it
leaches into your body. There is  never, ever a reason to opt for
amalgams. They
are poison and although you won't drop dead from them, you should
always avoid them
and avoid dentists who use them (out of ignorance.)

That said, my rule on dentistry is to do as little as possible. I do
get routine
cleanings. But I would not get my (old) mercury fillings removed
unless there is a
reason. One thing that bothers me is that with most dentists when they
drill out
the fillings the air is filled with mercury dust and mercury vapor
(unless the
dentist has very special hood equipment with ventilation etc.) That
might be worse.
And eventually the amalgams get old and they'll remove them anyway.
Fillings get
recurrent decay around them and need to be replaced eventually.
Sometimes the teeth
have been weakened from the filling and the teeth crack badly and need
root canal
(if you want to save the tooth) in any event which all means that the
amalgam will
be removed.

I opt for gold or for visible portions composite. Composite is a light
cured acid
etched resin (plastic.) It doesn't dissolve away in the saliva to my
knowledge. I
believe it is relativey benign.

I have had one root canal that I needed. They fill these with gutta
percha, which
is a rubber like product (unless they use something newer, but I think
they still
use this). I am not sure it's wonderful for you. They also tend to put
in some type
of antiseptic material into the canal. This lasts a long time and is
of course
designed to reduce infection (which can occur anyway.) Probably not
very healthy
either.

If I don't need dentistry, I won't have it. I won't get my amalgams
removed until I
really need to. If I were having problems, I would consider having
them removed but
as a last resort.

--Richard

A Gryphon wrote:

> >As for the rest, I too would like advice about fillings, cavities, etc.
> >
> I wouldn't say that my dentist is really paleo, but he *is* a really great
> dentist. When I first started going to him, I had a lot of fillings to be
> done, as I had been traumatized by a particularly bad dentist as a child and
> had avoided all dentistry for too long. I was absolutely terrified of any
> dental procedure, and was so jumpy I was probably *his* worst nightmare!
>
> But -- to show how far I've come (and this is the paleo part): several years
> ago I had some minor fillings to be done. My dentist talked to me calmly
> before doing them, and told me that given the fact that they were small and
> not deep, and that novocaine is really not good for you, it would be best if
> he did them without freezing my mouth. I was a bit skeptical, but said I'd
> try it. All it took was some mental focus, and I got through it.
>
> A few years ago, I had a deep infection in the roots of a tooth that had
> been injured in an accident some years before. By this time, my focus was so
> good, I was able to have the root canal without freezing. (The endodontist
> congratulated me on that one.)
>
> I do have a few deep cavities in my molars, which occasionally need to be
> replaced. In those cases, I definitely opt for the freezing. But if you can
> get past the initial fear, I highly recommend forgoing the freezing for most
> fillings and other procedures.
>
> >At first I went for the "white" composite fillings but now I'm wondering
> >what the heck is in THOSE and now I'm going to ask for future ones to be gold.
>
> I brought up this issue to my dentist some time ago. He told me that in his
> opinion, it was 6 of one, half a dozen of the other, but that the amalgam
> fillings were stronger. He showed me a list of ingredients in both. I don't
> specifically remember much, but they are both pretty long.
>
> I recently had one of my amalgam fillings break and had it replaced with a
> white composite, just because I like the look of white natural teeth better
> than all that metal inlay.
>
> Irene