LIES YOUR DENTIST IS FORCED TO TELL YOU

 

 

 

Carolyn Dean, MD, ND and
Elissa Meininger
July 28, 2005
NewsWithViews.com

In a federal courtroom in Connecticut on July 14, 2005, history was made when Mark Breiner, DDS, won the right to publish in the public press, the dangers of mercury-laced dental fillings. At his side was his Connecticut Civil Liberties Union lawyer, Lou Blumenfeld, who eagerly took on the dental, and by its association, the allopathic medical monopoly, in the longtime fight over the dangers of the use of mercury in medicine.

The use of mercury as part of the allopathic medical armament in healing the sick is no doubt, the longest and most heated debate in the history of western medicine. It was Paracelsus, 16th Century Swiss doctor, who first recommended the use of minute doses of mercury to treat syphilis. However, it was also Paracelsus who railed against using too much mercury in the treatment as he was also the first to diagnose mercury poisoning of miners and metal workers. Miners� sickness he explained, was a disease of the lungs due to the air miners breathed and from minerals taken in through the lungs or the skin. As for exposure to mercury, He knew the difference between acute and chronic poisoning and he developed a special detox therapy for mercury poisoning based on principles still used today by health practitioners who treat this malady.

Mercury was known to be so toxic, that the first laws regarding the hours of work in mercury mines were passed in Austria in1665 and over time, laws restricting women and young children from working with mercury were passed in the Netherlands, Japan, France, Switzerland and Greece. It was British hat makers who used mercury in making felt hats in the 1800�s, who were accused of being �mad as hatters� based on the mental deterioration they suffered from exposure to mercury.

Despite concerns over exposure to mercury in the workplace, a variety of mercury compounds were looked upon as all-purpose elixirs for all manner of diseases in the allopathic medical community. German chemist and medical doctor, Samuel Hahnemann, was so disgusted with the illness mercury treatments caused, he broke ranks with his pro-mercury colleagues to establish what he referred to as �the new school� of medicine, which he named �homeopathy�.

In 1844, two years after Hahnemann died, the American Homeopathic Institute was founded by his American followers, forming the oldest professional medical society in the US. Homeopaths, then and now, continue to be outspoken in their condemnation of the use of mercury in any form of medical and dental practice and specialize in the treatment of those whose health has deteriorated due to its use. Other medical groups, most notably eclectic physicians (those who used both allopathic and botanical therapies) and Thomsonians (akin to today�s traditional naturopaths) were also highly critical over the use of mercury back then. In 1845, the public concern over the use of mercury prompted a group of Pennsylvania citizens to petition their state legislature to ban its use. The legislature declined.

In response to such public condemnation, and presumably due to a loss of business because of it, the allopathic medical community organized the American Medical Association in 1847 to protect their interests.

A similar professional fight over mercury raged in the dental community. The first mercury fillings were used in 1818. In 1840, the American Society of Dental Surgeons (ASDS) organized and required its members to sign pledges that they would not use mercury in their practice. That same year, 11 New York dentists were charged with malpractice for using mercury fillings. In 1859, after disputes within the ASDS, the American Dental Association (ADA) was founded and has aggressively promoted and defended the use mercury fillings since. Seven out of 10 dentists today are members of the ADA.

The dirty little secret in the dental community these days is that the ADA, some years ago, established a gag rule to forbid dentists, under penalty of loss of licensure, to inform their patients that mercury fillings could cause serious health problems and possibly death.

Dr. Mark Breiner represents a rare breed of dentists whose consciences will not let them abide by this gag rule.

At the same time, under �right to know� laws, MDs have a duty to disclose to the patient the contents of a prescription as well as any potential side effects � whether they do that is fodder for a future column. At any rate, a doctor could be sued for failure to disclose key information that would allow a patient to make an informed decision. In addition, manufacturers of these products are required to provide significant information as dictated by law. These consumer protections were put into place so that a person considering using these products is provided with the information necessary to make an informed decision as it is presumed that given a choice, the average person would want to consider all options.

No such �right to know� exists regarding dental materials. Since the dental patient never sees the packaging and the ADA has a decades� old gag rule banning dentist from providing such information, patients are literally left with their mouths hanging open with no options. Ironically, while removal of mercury fillings for health reasons is considered malpractice, and subject to loss of license, removal of these same fillings and replacing them with the same materials an anti-mercury dentist might recommend, done for cosmetic purposes is considered state-of-the-art dental practice.

So-called �silver� dental fillings are an amalgamation of 50% pure elemental mercury, 35% silver, 13% tin, 2% copper, and a trace of zinc - thus the name amalgam fillings. While mercury fillings are classified as a hazardous material in the work place by the federal government�s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and dentists can get shutdown if they get caught throwing old mercury fillings down the sink by the Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies, somehow, magically, these same fillings are perfectly safe in our teeth.

I briefly touched on the various aspects of mercury in dentistry and medicine, in my book, Death by Modern Medicine, and have a manuscript underway to broaden the discussion, but the real expert on mercury poisoning is my writing partner for my News With Views columns, Elissa Meininger, who almost died of dental mercury poisoning two decades ago.

Elissa�s bout with the problem spanned over 30 years of her life and by the time she was properly diagnosed and put on the road back to health, she had become virtually bedridden and unable to carry on a coherent conversation.

In an effort to do something about this horrible situation, in 1990, after learning there was to be an FDA hearing about the safety of dental amalgams the following year, Elissa contacted the Defense Against Mercury Syndrome (DAMS), a 20,000 member victims� support group. She asked for their help in conducting a nationwide survey among mercury filling victims so that witnesses at the upcoming hearing could spell out, in human terms, the real cost for not acknowledging the problem.

There were seven areas of questions each participant was to answer in essay style so survey respondents could provide as much unique information as possible. Unlike most surveys that are designed to narrow the questions to simple check offs for statistical purposes, and in many cases, limited for political reasons, to safe areas of discussion, Elissa�s survey was designed to give victims a real chance to talk about how this devastating malady actually affected their lives.

If you have the stomach for it, here are just some of the things victims of dental mercury fillings suffer:

Extreme fatigue:
Many describe an inability to get up, stay up, function during the day, drive cars, hold pencils, or keep jobs. They describe a frailty so severe, they can�t walk well, can�t judge spatial relationships and have poor eye-hand coordination. Some experience tremors, muscle weakness and spasms, and aching muscles all from feelings of extreme exhaustion.

Memory problems:
Many describe an inability to remember things, memorize songs, carry on coherent conversations, read or watch TV due to lack of ability to concentrate. Many tend to get confused easily.

Eye problems:
Some describe erratic vision, temporary blindness (until fillings removed), light sensitivity and blurred vision.

Emotional problems:
Many describe erratic behavior, inability to have good judgment or make rational decisions, suffer hyperactivity, nervousness, crying jags, inability to cope with problems at work or at home, experience irritability, depression and sudden anger for no apparent reason. Many feel just plain overwhelmed by noise, too much going on around them and having demands made upon them to make decisions or function in the normal world.

Physical ailments:
Many describe allergies, sinus problems, sounds of roaring in their heads, chronic infections, injuries that are slow to heal, headaches and all manner of other maladies.

Many of the survey participants talk about the pain and frustration of being accused by the allopathic medical community of making up all these symptoms just to get attention. Others find themselves victims of all manner of costly tests that find nothing wrong, unnecessary drugging to suppress symptoms, unnecessary hospitalizations (including in mental hospitals) and unnecessary surgical procedures that do nothing to relieve them of their suffering.

All of the participants report suffering a large number of the symptoms listed above over many years and many more maladies not listed here. Almost none of them find their answers by going to allopathic physicians practicing standard medicine. All of them have some knowledge of natural healing arts practices and it is obvious from the reports of success, removal of the fillings is the first step toward restoring health. The second part of the process is to use any number of different methods to detox the body of mercury.

Since this has become a very personal issue to me, I would like to point out that my colleague, Elissa, now enjoys instant recall of just about everything she has ever seen or heard, she is quick-witted and is obviously quite intelligent. It is hard to imagine that right after she had her first mercury filling placed at age six, she came close to being diagnosed as retarded and spent many years in school struggling to keep up with classroom work. Lack of full mental function is just one of the many symptoms Elissa suffered for years.

And, much to my surprise, in recent days, Elissa has informed me that two of our closest colleagues in our work for health freedom are also victims of mercury poisoning and can also attest to the fact that removing mercury fillings and following the advice of natural health practitioners is the road back to health. I wonder, now, how many other people I know who are recovered victims of mercury poisoning from dental fillings.

And now to the brave Dr. Mark Breiner�what exactly did he win in that federal courtroom in Connecticut?

Under his right to free speech, he is now allowed to state his views in advertisements for his practice without fear of losing his license to practice dentistry, but due to an earlier consent decree he must add the caveat that his opinions �are not shared by traditional dentists and physicians, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Connecticut State Dental Commission or the American Dental Association, all of whom have concluded that there is insufficient scientific evidence to establish tat the removal of amalgam fillings cure and/or alleviates symptoms of any or disease or condition.�

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How this court decision will affect dentists in the 49 other states remains to be seen. Maybe its time to ask your dentist what the political climate is in your state. Better yet, check out the following websites for more detailed information, then contact your dentist.

www.iaomt.org
www.toxicteeth.org
www.piercelaw.edu/risk/vol2/spring/royal.htm

Watch for my Ebook on mercury with a special section on safe removal protocols. If you are having your mercury amalgams removed you have to make sure your doctor uses the right procedure to do so -during unsafe removal very high levels of toxic mercury can enter your body.

ACT FOR HEALTH FREEDOM NOW:

Go to www.friendsoffreedominternational.org and click on your elected representatives and tell them to Say NO to CAFTA and Don't Touch DSHEA in Any Way! Purchase "Death by Modern Medicine" and view and purchase the new movie on Codex and Free Trade called "We Become Silent" by Kevin Miller. Proceeds from the sale of these products are crucial to help fund our health freedom action.

� 2005 Carolyn Dean - All Rights Reserved