Amalgam filing removal when pregnant-worried about mercury exposure

lemonpink

I would be so grateful for response from anyone. I am 20 week pregnant and had to get an amalgam filing removed last week due to bad decay. The dentist used a dental dam and high suction and reassured me that this would not affect my baby. He then replaced it with a temporary filing. However when I came home I started googling and apparently mercury exposure to fetus is very dangerous and can cause adverse neurological affects. I was obviously very anxious so I contacted my dentist again and he said that he took many precautions to limit my and my babies exposure to mercury vapour and if there was any exposure it was very miniscule and would not harm my baby.
I went to my gp the following day and they took blood from me to send away to lab for mercury testing. The results came back as 0.5 ug/l Can anyone translate these results for me. I am beside myself with worry and would be grateful for advise from any gp, dentist or lab technician who could explain what these results mean. Or if anyone out there had an amalgam filing removed when pregnant and went on to have healthy babies, please let me know.
Many thanks.

work

I am sad top hear this is causing you such anxiety. Your dentist did this in an ethical and caring way. THERE IS NO RISK TO YOUR BABY. Forget this episode and enjoy your pregnancy.

Do not rely on google for advice in relation to this as every shyster in the anti-amalgam lobby group will give you very misleading advice.

If your doctor took the bloods he needs to explain to you exactly what they mean. But it is of no consequence.

JustAThought

work wrote: »

I am sad top hear this is causing you such anxiety. Your dentist did this in an ethical and caring way. THERE IS NO RISK TO YOUR BABY. Forget this episode and enjoy your pregnancy.

Do not rely on google for advice in relation to this as every shyster in the anti-amalgam lobby group will give you very misleading advice.

If your doctor took the bloods he needs to explein to you exactly what they mean. But it is of no consequence.

You have much more risk having your nails done. Don't be worrying.

Dianthus

lemonpink wrote: »

I am 20 week pregnant and had to get an amalgam filing removed last week due to bad decay

This is absolutely the most important point in your post. There was bad decay- ie: active disease- present in your mouth. Neither you nor the dentist had any choice *but* to remove& treat it. Realistically, you can't leave "bad decay" for another 4-5months without serious ramifications. I would urge you to also Google things such as sepsis, irreversible pulpitis, facial cellulitis, Ludwigs Angina....it's very important to consider what effect these things would have on you& your babys' health, and weigh up that risk also.
Rubber dam is used by endodontists worldwide when performing root canal treatment; it acts as a barrier to prevent the patient swallowing bleach....it's isolation credentials are well proven!
In general, for general peace of mind, dentists prefer to keep treatment (other than routine checkups& cleanings) to a minimum during pregnancy. Unfortunately, this is not always possible during an emergency situation, & leads to stress for all parties (not necessarily baby!).

lemonpink

Many thanks for your replies.
Dianthus- I would have been liked to have been presented with a number of options from my dentist. I would have preferred to have had the tooth extracted rather than go through this anxiety and worry but I was reassured that it was fine to remove the amalgam. I was not aware of the controversy regarding mercury vapour exposure from amalgams until I researched the topic myself. My babies health is my priority . Your advise to google other ailments is not going to help an anxious pregnant woman.
Anyone else with experience here, I would appreciate your feedback.

Dianthus

lemonpink wrote: »

I was not aware of the controversy regarding mercury vapour exposure from amalgams until I researched the topic myself. My babies health is my priority.

I know many many female dentists who worked throughout their own pregnancy, in close proximity to amalgam, in small surgeries/confined spaces, handling amalgam, placing amalgam, removing amalgam... every single day over the 8 months of working during their own pregnancy.
Do female dentists not consider the health of their own babies at all?
I agree that I cannot add anything more to this thread, it is your choice to interpret the evidence however you wish.

lemonpink

Dianthus, whats done is done. In your own opinion, should I be concerned about the mercury vapour exposure? I now you say that many pregnant female dentist work with amalgam everyday but why is there such controversy about amalgam removal in pregnancy and its apparently a big no no when pregnant. Is there truth and genuine evidence behind the debate or is it one of those scaremonger technique similar to the childhood vaccine debate. can you interpret my mercury blood level test result of 0.5 ug/l?

work

lemonpink wrote: »

Dianthus, whats done is done. In your own opinion, should I be concerned about the mercury vapour exposure? I now you say that many pregnant female dentist work with amalgam everyday but why is there such controversy about amalgam removal in pregnancy and its apparently a big no no when pregnant. Is there truth and genuine evidence behind the debate or is it one of those scaremonger technique similar to the childhood vaccine debate. can you interpret my mercury blood level test result of 0.5 ug/l?

Hi Again,
To try and alleviate your fears again:
"In general, a blood level greater than 10 mcg/L indicates an unusual level of exposure for someone who does not regularly work with mercury"
from this link: http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/mercury/tab/test/
Please note: mcg/L is the same as ug/l....They both mean microgram.

As such you are 20 times lower in your blood mercury recording than should even begin to concern you.

I already advised you to talk to your GP WHO MADE THIS TEST AND IS OBLIGED TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU. Is there a reason you cannot follow that simple advice or do you not trust your doctor or all the dentists that have given you advice here?

Finally there is controversy for many reasons but primarily mercury in high levels is toxic (like chlorine in our water or many other things you are exposed to daily like car and industrial fumes) and there are environmental concerns for cremation after we die.

There are unethical practitioners treating patients like you where the last concern is your health, it is their profit. Your dentist carried out the procedure ethically and you had no choice on the procedure realistically.

Again please go and enjoy your pregnancy, this is not an issue but it is understandable to be concerned.

Big_G

Lemonpink, please understand no one here is allowed to offer medical advice or interpret blood tests.
What I can say is that you should not worry.
Here is a link to nice study which shows no association between prenatal mercury exposure from dental amalgam and any neurodevelopmental issues later on in 200+ pregnancies followed for several years. Pregnancy study

Your first mistake is googling anything like this, with respect. There is so much misinformation out there with regard to everything scientific. You mentioned a controversy, I'm not aware of any good evidence that there are any problems as long as reasonable precautions are taken, which seemingly is the case. With regard to the blood test, your doctor should be able to explain it to you.

I'll leave this open so others here can reassure you, but please understand it is against the rules here to offer any medical advice or interpret your blood test results.

EoghanIRL

I remember reading before that to exceed your environmental exposure to mercury you would need to have significantly more amalgam fillings than you have teeth!

When looking up stuff like this online you need to use reliable websites that use evidence based medicine!

lemonpink

Thanks for your replies. My doctor is on holiday for another r week. His secretary gave me the results. This is why I don't understand the result.

digzy

lemonpink wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. My doctor is on holiday for another r week. His secretary gave me the results. This is why I don't understand the result.

Op
You're working yourself up over nothing. Most dentists don't use rubber dam for the procedure you described. The dentist has done nothing wrong. Ring them if you've a problem.if you've a higher than average blood reading for Mercury chances are it's coming from water/food sources. Chill out. Focus on eating as healthily as possible and get some exercise if you're concerned about the future health of your child. A number of dentists have come on here and basically reassured you that you've absolutely nothing to worry about......and guess what they're right!

Now just being Devils advocate and pretend that you've been intoxicated with enough Mercury to harm your unborn child....what are you going to do...have an abortion? Of course not. There's bugger all you can do. There's no anti Mercury antidote. Look at all the pregnant skangeroos outside any maternity hospital across the country puffing away. Yet the kids are fine! And there's evidence there linking smoking to all kinds of health problems.

You'd be better off reading "not on the label" by felicity Lawrence. It's quite interesting and you'll think a bit more about what you eat. Farmed fish, chicken from Asia etc....it ain't as healthy as we think!

I find it ironic in my own practice when smokers attend and want all their silver fillings changed because they think the fillings are poisoning them causing a myriad of symptoms.