Do You Have Mercury Fillings? Here’s Why You Should Avoid Hydrogen Peroxide
You wouldn’t order a salad with an extra side of toxins or purposefully pour chemicals in your coffee, yet some of our most common dental practices have that same effect.
Mercury fillings, also known as silver or amalgam fillings, are used to fill cavities in the teeth. Despite evidence that mercury is a highly toxic substance, more than 100 million Americans have received mercury fillings at the suggestion of dental professionals.
If you use products containing hydrogen peroxide, your mercury fillings could be wreaking even more havoc on your body. Research shows a frightening link between chronic toxicity, amalgam fillings and hydrogen peroxide.
There’s some good news, at least. Until your mercury fillings are safely removed by a qualified professional, you can minimize their toxic influence with one simple step: avoid all hydrogen peroxide products by choosing a toothpaste formulated with a natural ingredient called Colloidal Silver.
The Dangers of Mercury Fillings
Silver fillings contain 50% mercury, as well as other heavy metals like tin, zinc, copper, and silver. The American Dental Association has long insisted that dental amalgam “has established a record of safety and effectiveness,” but ongoing research tells a much different story.
Mercury is a highly toxic element with such serious health consequences that the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that no level of mercury exposure is safe. In fact, mercury is listed as one of the WHO’s top ten chemicals of major public health concerns. The FDA also reviewed scientific evidence of the health hazards caused by mercury fillings and ultimately reclassified dental amalgam as a “higher risk” Class II device.
Where Does Mercury Come From?
Mercury exists naturally in the earth’s crust and enters the human food chain through the burning of coal and other fossil fuels. It settles into the environment as methylmercury bacteria and accumulates in fish and shellfish. This is why it’s recommended to limit fish consumption, especially of fish known to contain the highest levels of mercury.
Signs of Mercury Poisoning
Mercury affects the body differently based on type, dose, length of exposure, and age of the person exposed, but the results are never positive.
If a baby is exposed to mercury in the womb, she may experience brain and nervous system defects. Impaired neurological development is the most common health effect of mercury exposure, which leads to many severe complications:
- Cognitive thinking delays
- Memory and attention problems
- Language delays
- Fine motor and visual spatial skill deficiencies
These consequences of mercury poisoning were proven in the 20th century when the town of Minamata, Japan was poisoned by the water in Minamata Bay. A factory discharged its mercury waste products directly into the lake where local residents fished to provide food for their families.
The townspeople unknowingly poisoned themselves with mercury over a 30 year period, leading to more than 50,000 cases of mercury-related health conditions:
- Neurological disorders
- Behavioral disorders
- Neuromuscular problems
- Memory loss
- Kidney failure
- Immune system dysfunction
- Digestive problems
As Americans, our most dangerous form of mercury exposure doesn’t come from poisoned lakes, but from silver dental fillings. Your very own fillings create a steady flow of mercury vapors streaming through your body.
How Mercury Fillings Poison the Body
If you have an amalgam filling (or two, or five!), mercury vapors are released into your body every time you chew, brush, or drink a hot beverage.
Those vapors pass easily through cell membranes, across the blood-brain barrier, and into the central nervous system. Mercury can seep into every cell it contacts to cause immunological, neurological, and psychological problems. Since the effects of a heavy metal like mercury are gradual, most people don’t realize the damage taking place until it has spiraled out of control.
These common symptoms of mercury poisoning indicate increasing toxicity in your body:
- Frequent headaches
- Emotional instability
- Vision problems
- Sinusitis
- Memory loss
- Chronic fatigue
- Muscle weakness
- Metallic taste in the mouth
Mercury has also been linked to serious diseases like Alzheimer’s, thyroid disorder, and Multiple Sclerosis because it has such a destructive effect on the body’s immune and detoxification systems.
This begs the question- Why, oh why, do dentists continue to use amalgam fillings to fill cavities?
What Happens When Hydrogen Peroxide and Mercury Fillings Interact?
Hydrogen peroxide is a common household antiseptic used to clean cuts and scrapes. It works by releasing oxygen and foaming to create a cleaning effect.
Beyond household cleaning, hydrogen peroxide has also become a popular remedy for tooth discoloration. Popular DIY blogs encourage the use of hydrogen peroxide as a simple and affordable teeth whitening hack, and unfortunately, few readers question this advice.
But what does the science say? Hydrogen peroxide causes terrible damage to your mouth when used consistently.
Hydrogen Peroxide Harms Your Teeth and Gums
Hydrogen peroxide bleaches the color of your teeth through chemical reaction. Research shows that high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide, especially up to 30 and 35 percent, burns the soft tissue of the gums and creates painful irritation.
Worse yet, hydrogen peroxide is known to weaken the enamel and dentin responsible for making your teeth strong and white. A growing body of research proves the dangers of hydrogen peroxide for oral use include the following complications:
- Increasingly porous surface enamel
- Mineral loss leading to brittle teeth
- Disruption of natural calcium to phosphate ratio
- Increased nerve exposure and sensitivity
Is this “beauty hack” really worth the problems it causes? N-O.
Hydrogen Peroxide Increases Mercury Exposure
Beyond the tooth and gum damage that hydrogen peroxide causes, this substance is also proven to increase mercury levels in the body. When hydrogen and carbamide peroxide come in contact with amalgam fillings, hydrogen peroxide molecules break into free radicals that corrode metallic alloys like mercury and release their toxic vapors.
These vapors are absorbed by the oral mucosa, respiratory tract, and digestive system. Studies have found that the amount of mercury released into the body after exposure to hydrogen peroxide was significantly higher than after exposure to control substances.
So what does all of this mean for you? It means that your use of any oral care products formulated with hydrogen peroxide will place your body at higher risk of mercury poisoning. Mercury spreads quickly through your bloodstream and into other parts of your body. The brain and kidneys absorb the most mercury, where it lurks for weeks, months, or more.
Since mercury vapor exposure from amalgam fillings occurs in small amounts every single day- especially with the use of hydrogen peroxide products- this is considered chronic mercury exposure. Dangerous levels of mercury can easily accumulate throughout your body, become trapped, and trigger dangerous health complications.
Hydrogen peroxide and mercury fillings shouldn’t go anywhere near each other, so it’s important to check (and double check) the labels on all of your oral care products. Whitening products aren’t the only culprits. Standard toothpastes often include hydrogen peroxide as an active ingredient.
Popular Brands That Use Hydrogen Peroxide
Crest and Colgate are household names, but these brands don’t deserve a place on your bathroom sink. Despite representing themselves as oral care experts, both Crest and Colgate include hydrogen peroxide and other dangerous ingredients in their toothpaste and whitening products.
Colgate’s “Optic White Beauty” toothpaste line, for example, boasts “professionally recommended whitening ingredient, hydrogen peroxide” as its very first benefit. The Colgate Optic White Professional Take Home Kit also lists hydrogen peroxide as its only active ingredient. These products claim to make teeth five to seven shades whiter, but they never mention the sensitivity, brittleness, and pain that develops as a result.
Crest products aren’t any better. They also contain hydrogen peroxide and even admit to some of the damage it causes.
The safety warning on Crest 3D Whitestrips reads, “With products that offer the highest level of whitening, such as Crest 3D Whitestrips with Blue Light, there is an even greater chance that you may experience tooth sensitivity and/or gum discomfort.” Though this warning goes on to warn people who need dental work or have oral cancer to speak to a dentist, amalgam fillings are never mentioned.
Why Is Colloidal Silver Toothpaste a Better Choice?
Once you remove all traces of hydrogen peroxide from your daily oral care routine, you can begin to repair the damage it has caused. Colloidal Silver is a powerful and natural alternative that improves and protects tooth and gum health without any of the threats posed by hydrogen peroxide.
What Is Colloidal Silver?
Colloidal silver is an alternative remedy dating back to ancient times. In fact, before the invention of the refrigerator, it was common practice to preserve milk by dropping a silver coin into the container. The silver from the coin prevented the growth of algae, bacteria, and other microorganisms.
Today, Colloidal Silver is available as an easier (and more sanitary!) solution. It’s composed of a solution of water containing nanoparticles of suspended silver. Though they can’t be seen with the naked eye, those silver nanoparticles offer antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties.
However, it’s important to use the right type of Colloidal Silver. Some brands market ionic silver or silver protein as Colloidal Silver, but they don’t provide the same benefits of results. In essence, ionic silver and silver protein are the cheaper “generic” versions weakened by additives like gelatin. Only true Colloidal Silver formulated strictly with water and silver nanoparticles should be used for therapeutic purposes.
Unlike hydrogen peroxide, which breaks down amalgam fillings and leeches mercury into the body, Colloidal Silver can interact safely with mercury fillings. In fact, research shows that the powerful antibacterial properties of Colloidal Silver can be used to reduce oral bacteria and prevent gum disease.
Safer Alternatives For Your Mouth and Amalgam Fillings
If you have even one mercury filling in your mouth, stay away from products containing hydrogen peroxide! Swap your toothpaste and whitening products for these natural peroxide-free alternatives.
Dirty Mouth Toothpaste
Dirty Mouth Toothpaste uses the same nurse-formulated recipe trusted by thousands in Dirty Mouth Toothpowder. The only difference? The addition of Colloidal Silver in a paste formula!
Colloidal Silver, bentonite clay, kaolin clay, activated charcoal, and essential oils combine to deliver a powerful one-two punch to bacteria. After all, healthy gums start with the right toothpaste. Dirty Mouth Toothpaste interrupts the formation of plaque and bacteria around your gums to keep your teeth healthy, strong, and white.
This Colloidal Silver-based toothpaste even helps actively repair acid-weakened enamel and protects your teeth from future acid erosion. As a result, that dull yellow discoloration covering your teeth will slowly diminish.
Thanks to the three mineral-rich clays included in Dirty Mouth Toothpaste, restorative minerals are locked into and absorbed deep into the surface structure of tooth enamel. This stimulates the repair of micro-damage and rebuilds enamel strength, leaving your teeth feeling stronger and looking brighter.
Beyond the appearance of your teeth, Dirty Mouth Toothpaste also alkalizes your entire oral microbiome to minimize inflammation and halt gum disease in its tracks. It stops bacteria from burrowing into your gums and between your teeth, which in turn prevents a hard layer of bacteria-filled tartar from forming.
Even if you have mercury amalgam fillings, Dirty Mouth Toothpaste uses Colloidal Silver to safely create a positive oral environment strong enough to fight harmful bacteria, neutralize acid, and keep your mouth fresh.
Overall, you can expect to enjoy these major benefits when trusting your oral health to Dirty Mouth Toothpaste twice a day:
- Repair acid-weakened enamel
- Protect against future enamel erosion
- Support balance of healthy oral bacteria
- Cleanse mouth tissues and gums
- Whiten teeth by removing surface stains
- Freshen breath
- Relieve pain caused by tooth sensitivity
Try finding a hydrogen peroxide toothpaste that delivers the same results!
LED Tooth Whitening Kit
It’s also important to stop using peroxide-based tooth whitening products if you have amalgam fillings. Sure, they make your teeth whiter, but they also expose your body to harmful doses of mercury that lead to terrible side effects.
Despite hydrogen peroxide leading the ingredients list on all standard whitening kits and products, there is a much better option for your mercury fillings, your teeth, and your entire mouth!
Use a peroxide-free LED whitening system formulated with only safe, natural ingredients.
LEDs produce light differently than standard incandescent bulbs. They release extremely bright light when an electrical current is present, but they don’t produce wasted heat energy. This makes it possible for LEDs to deliver total efficiency from the second they turn on.
In addition, LED light accelerates the whitening results of any natural whitening agent you apply to your teeth. An activated charcoal gel is the best choice for everybody, but it’s especially important if you have amalgam fillings. A peroxide-free alternative like this activated charcoal gel delivers rapid whitening results without any threat to your health.
Real White Teeth Whitening Gel is formulated with the very best natural ingredients to improve nearly every aspect of your oral health:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil creates a strong base for whitening gel that also nourishes and protects gum tissue.
- Bentonite Clay offers powerful detoxification properties. Negatively charged ions attract positively-charged toxins and heavy metals and draw them out of the mouth. It enhances your oral health as you whiten instead of leaching mercury from your fillings and leaving your teeth brittle, sensitive.
- Essential Oils like peppermint, tea tree, wintergreen, cinnamon, roman chamomile, and lavender help this natural whitening gel smell and taste incredible. Every essential oil offers powerful antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties to revitalize and restore your oral health.
- Activated Charcoal quickly absorbs plaque and other unwanted compounds that stain your teeth. By binding to the toxins and pulling them out of your mouth, activated charcoal helps leave your teeth much brighter and whiter than before.
Standard whitening gels that rely on hydrogen peroxide can’t offer any of these benefits; they only compromise your health.
The Bottom Line: Use Colloidal Silver, Not Hydrogen Peroxide, For a Healthier Mouth
It’s terrifying to think that one of the most serious threats to your health is sitting inside of your own teeth! The use of amalgam fillings should be considered one of the worst failures of modern dentistry, yet some dentists still ignore the proof of mercury’s dangers.
For the millions of Americans like yourself with mercury fillings, it's time for damage control. Other than visiting a qualified holistic dentist to have your mercury fillings safely removed, the best way to protect yourself against mercury exposure is to avoid all peroxide-based oral care products.
Most traditional toothpastes sneak hydrogen peroxide into their formulas to claim extra whitening power, while the most popular whitening strips and gels boast the high percentage of hydrogen peroxide they use to deliver quick results. Clear your bathroom sink of those culprits and swap for safer alternatives.
Dirty Mouth Toothpaste is the first toothpaste of its kind to blend Colloidal Silver, natural clays, activated charcoal, and other powerful ingredients to protect your mouth without the nasty side effects associated with peroxide-based products. Get yours today to experience the difference for yourself and escape the cycle of mercury toxicity.
Resources:
https://www.ada.org/en/about-the-ada/ada-positions-policies-and-statements/statement-on-dental-amalgam
https://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/96/6/17-203141/en/
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/dental-amalgam/appendix-i-summary-changes-classification-dental-amalgam-and-mercury
https://iaomt.org/resources/dental-mercury-facts/amalgam-fillings-danger-human-health/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7734058
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320563.php
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4229680/?_ga=2.8520113.546738981.1553004399-1220425171.1553004399
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4229680/?_ga=2.8520113.546738981.1553004399-1220425171.1553004399
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4946001/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9127386
https://crest.com/en-us/products/compare/crest-whitestrips
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6315945/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3466022/?_ga=2.16627894.1252143398.1512077656-970936839.1510722429