Stop! Don’t Remove Silver Fillings While Pregnant – Here’s Why

Why Silver Fillings Are a Concern in Pregnancy 0:00

Are you pregnant and wondering if you should get your silver fillings removed? Well, stop. Before you do anything, you need to hear this because removing them the wrong way or at the wrong time could actually do more harm than leaving them be for the moment. Why are silver fillings a problem? Well, they are 50% mercury. And that is true today. It was true when they were originally developed. And those fillings release mercury 24-7. Every single time you chew, every single time you eat something hot, then drink something cold, that mercury is released.

So, of course, this is something that you're probably interested in having removed from you. You don't want that mercury exposure. However, The biggest mercury exposure comes during the removal appointment. As that filling is drilled on, it vaporizes the mercury. It rises and it also can be absorbed through the nose, the mouth, through the skin, many different sources and places. This is not something that you really want to risk during pregnancy because that mercury is a neurotoxin and it is proven to be able to pass through the placenta and research has shown that it is higher in babies whose moms have fillings or have had them removed.

Now, again, this may make you feel like this is something I need to do now. I'm pregnant. I don't want this passing into my baby. But remember, it's a little amount that is released during use, but it's a lot that's released during removal. Now, the American Dental Association doesn't recommend that these fillings be removed during pregnancy.

Mercury Exposure Risks During Removal 1:32

The FDA doesn't recommend that these fillings are placed in women that are childbearing age at all or children under the age of six. and a lot of European countries have banned any kind of mercury containing filling at all in their country. In fact, it was interesting. I was at a meeting in Switzerland. I was one of only two dentists from the United States at this meeting and at lunch one day a lot of the dentists were comparing regulations and things that were in their countries and one of the dentists said His country had completely banned silver fillings.

Another said he was quite dismayed because his country had only banned them in children under the age of 12 or pregnant women. And I said unfortunately in the United States we're allowed to place them in anyone. Well we should take all of this information that people have found throughout the world and say Perhaps this isn't a good thing for anyone, but particularly for people who are of childbearing age, are pregnant, nursing, or in children. So what do you do? All right, let's get to that. First of all, the most important thing is when you are removing these fillings, you need to do it in a safe way.

So what does that look like? There's an organization called the iaomt.org. And the iaomt has created a set of protocols that they call their smart protocols. Safe mercury amalgam removal technique is what it stands for.

When Removal Should Be Avoided or Delayed 2:56

Those protocols are very specific and they will include things like covering the skin so the face and the body is covered. A nasal mask so you're breathing oxygen through the nose instead of mercury. A rubber dam in the mouth that will collect any chunks because these fillings aren't removed just in little teeny pieces. Sometimes there's chunks and they're often swallowed. a big vacuum at the base of the chin that can take vapors away. These should all be protocol that are implemented when you're doing that removal.

So should you do any of these procedures while you're pregnant? The answer is no, because like I said at the beginning, there's so much more mercury released during that removal appointment than is released on a daily basis. And you don't want to risk getting that huge influx of mercury. Now this is mercury that you're going to get even when all of those protocols are followed. It's unavoidable. So we choose to not remove them during pregnancy if they are intact. They're still functioning fine. There's no extensive decay on the tooth that's going to compromise the tooth over the length of the pregnancy.

These are all things that we consider, but what if that's not you? What if you have a toothache? What if you have a big cavity underneath an old silver filling? All right, this is a different situation, and we will do a tooth at a time if necessary, but we do it very, very carefully. We choose to go outside of the filling even to remove it, to try and attempt to remove it in one or two pieces.

SMART Protocols for Safe Amalgam Removal 4:20

The less pieces that it's removed in, the less vapor is released. So there are extra protocol that we will take if you are pregnant and this is an emergency situation. The tooth is going to be compromised or the health of you or that baby will be compromised by infection if it's not dealt with. So as a rule of thumb no you are not going to remove any of these silver fillings during pregnancy or nursing times unless if it's an emergency. Now what do we do differently here at Total Care Dental and Wellness?

We do a lot differently. We follow all of those smart protocol as well as having dedicated safe removal rooms that have everything set up and ready to go. We also assist your body with detox protocols so the body is able to handle that mercury that it will be exposed to during the removal appointment and handle it correctly. These are all very important things to do when you're looking into how to remove these fillings. Now I personally know this very well you may have heard my story how I got sick from removing these silver fillings myself and I have patient after patient who actually come they had fillings removed elsewhere years ago and And they have just found out they still have high mercury levels in their system.

It is so important to do this correctly. So make sure you are finding a dentist that knows and can follow the SMART protocol.

Emergency Cases and Special Precautions 5:44

We would love to see you here at Total Care Dental. If you're near us or if you're even coming from afar, we see a lot of people that do that. Or please go to my directory at livingwellofdrmichelle.com and find a dentist that can follow the SMART protocol. This is essential. This is not just a dental issue. This is a health issue. One thing that I always make sure to tell people as well is that if you are pregnant or nursing, talk to your OBGYN before initiating any kind of dental care, whether that's even just a cleaning or a tooth removal or anything of that sort.

Make sure that they are talking about risks and benefits and any precautions that you need to be taking along the way. This is an important thing. This is more than just your dental health. This is your baby's health and this is their long-term growth and development that could be impacted and influenced by these mercury removal appointments.

Finding the Right Dentist and Consulting Your OB-GYN 6:32

So make sure that you know everything you need to know before you move forward with this procedure. And if your filling is fine, leave it be for now. For this and all other information, please go check out Living Well with Dr. Michelle and come and visit us here at Total Care Dental and Wellness. We would love to see you because I just want to help you be well.