Our current list of questions for our dentist. Send in additions or new ideas. I will not do the interview until we have all had time to think on it and maybe come up with something that we hit our forehead over later, going "Arghhh, we should have asked him this......"

  Changes and additions that you have sent in are in red.

Hello Dr. Thank you for your time. 

My first question has to be, what qualifies you to speak on this topic?

What is your educational background and what you have you done to keep up with current events on this issue? 

You feel your education and continuing education qualifies you to speak on this topic? 

So tell me, is all of the media hype on the internet, in newspapers, books and Television, concerning amalgam fillings, mercury and all of the ailments it is purported to cause, the truth, an urban legend or is there a grain of truth hiding in all of the hype?

Can you tell us, in your opinion, how the scare about amalgam fillings began?

Are amalgam fillings anywhere near the risk of the amount of mercury in the larger “predator” fish like halibut, tuna, swordfish and shark?  

Can you take us through the process of putting in an amalgam filling? Is the patient exposed to raw mercury at any point during this process? Are you exposed at this point in the process? 

What happens to the filling once it is in your mouth?  

Is there a period when a new filling can infect us with mercury? 

You are a married man, do you have children? 

Would you, as a father, put amalgam fillings in your children’s teeth? 

Can you give us a few facts, such as, what circumstances would be needed for any mercury to actually be released from a simple tooth filling?  What would have to occur, in our bodies, to separate the mercury from the rest of the elements in a filling.  Is there any combination of heat, chemicals, wear and tear that could cause the mercury to separate from the compound, in our mouths?  

Would any mercury actually be released during any dental exam? Or by bruxism, gum chewing, brushing? 

I have heard that there is mercury in our drinking water, in the air surrounding crematoriums and power plants. How would the level of mercury, in our mouths, measure up to the amount of mercury put out by these other sources? 

How much does this current trend cost a Dentist in private practice? Do you see this driving up the cost of health care for the common man? 

Can you tell us what is the current, government sanctioned, acceptable level of mercury exposure in the U.S.A.?  

Is the U.S. Government looking in the right places, making the proper laws to protect us from mercury? 

Have you ever, in your years of practice, had to remove an amalgam filling from a patient? If so, why did they have it removed?

What are the alternatives to mercury based amalgam fillings? 

What are the pros and cons of alternative fillings? 

Where would be the best place for us, Joe Public, to find peer reviewed, scientific data on mercury and amalgam fillings? Where can we go to see that all of this is fact, and not just one man’s educated opinion? 

If you could say one thing to a frightened patient, one that is so fatigued and in so much pain that they are willing to try anything to make it go away, even having all of their fillings removed, what would you say to them?