On June 15, 2006 I began the removal of my 11 mercury amalgam fillings. Prior to this I had a test called the Clifford Reactivity test. It is a blood test designed to test your immune system against approximately 900 dental materials that could be used in the restoration process. When completed it produced a large booklet of information about what dental products I had sensitivities to and which were suitable. This would allow the dentist to place and use things that would not further stress my immune function.
We decided to do an aggressive removal process. We would remove one quadrant of my mouth each week for 4 weeks. We would follow the 7 day immune cycle as well. This meant that I would start removal on a Monday and the next week would have work done on Tuesday then the next week Wednesday and finally I would end on Thursday 4 weeks later. It has been determined that the immune system runs in 7 day cycles so it is harder on your body to do major work on the 7th day. As a Christian I found this interesting because so many things in the Bible are tied to the number 7 and it being the number of perfection.
I had 11 fillings to be removed. Two teeth had fillings that were too large so we opted to have them receive porcelain crowns. The rest would be restored with a composite material and on the final week I would have my root canal tooth removed.
My removal, though uncomfortable and sore at times went very well. Each week I had an adjustment from my Chiropractor / ND 2 days after each removal. This would open up the detoxification pathways to allow clearance of the toxins. I also had a lymphatic massage each week. This helped with the detoxification too.
The final week’s work was the roughest. I ended it all on June 8th. The root canal tooth was a bugger to get out. It took my dentist 3 hours to remove it. He also had to cut out an amalgam tattoo that had formed on my gum near this tooth. When the tooth was removed he discovered that there was a black sludge under this tooth. He also saw that there was necrosis of the jaw bone. He ground the bone down to clear out bacteria and any infection and washed it out with iodine. Knowing this now it all makes sense. I had root canal done in this tooth 2 times. It developed an infection shortly after I was diagnosed with cancer. If you read the book “The Root Canal Cover Up” all the pieces come together. I highly recommend this book. It will stop you from ever getting a root canal or encourage you to remove it if you are struggling with chronic medical conditions. For me with ever-present cancer markers I knew that this low grade infection / bacteria was a constant hit on my struggling immune system. Also Dr. B told me under no uncertain terms “Get rid of it”.
When we were done my dentist placed a magnet on my cheek at the removal site to encourage blood flow to the wound. I was pretty woozie when leaving the dentist. My dentist was concerned about me and made me promise that I would call him when I arrived safely. This was the beginning of a good relationship that would soon change my life in more personal areas. After removal I stopped at Walgreen’s to pick up some Vicoden. I really did not want to take drugs. That goes against everything I believe in but my dentist told me that I would need to have it. It was an anti-inflammatory so that would help bring the swelling down. I was also given SSKI (iodine) to flush my wound with.
I spent the next 4 days on the couch at home. I was achy and just felt overall like I had been hit by a truck. I slept quite a bit too. I knew that all of this had played a huge toll on my body but it was done and I could begin to heal from yet another insult on my poor body. But hopefully this would help me in the long run. It was a major expense – total bill was a little over $5,000 out of pocket. My insurance did not cover it after the initial $1,000.
My dentist was leaving for Spain on the following Monday after my removal. He called me at home on Sunday night to make sure that I was doing OK. He told me to contact his office if I had any issues and they would take care of me. He also gave me the name of another dentist that was covering his patients while he was gone if needed. It was so nice to have such a caring dentist. What a comfort to have a good dentist and doctor now in my corner.
During the next week I ended up coming into my dentist’s office. One of my temporary crowns was not working and I was in extreme pain when trying to eat. So I went in and one of his hygienists placed some de-sensitizer on my gum line to help. It did help. They also removed some bone pieces that were starting to come to the surface. I would be so glad when this was all over!
