Dental amalgam

Unrelated Discussion
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I have it noted with my dentist that I only get the resin fillings no matter what. If I were to get the amalgam without my knowledge I would immediately request at least a refund on the filling, which, knowing my dentist, he’d probably approve with hearty apologies. There are still good ones out there I assure you.

As far as the experience you’ve had, I would certainly complain to the dentist that did it, make it clear that you feel cheated if that’s the case (I’d feel the same way) and never go back to that person again at the very least. It’s shoddy dentistry and lack of integrity on the dentist’s part. Spend your money elsewhere and leave an appropriate review wherever necessary. Taking legal action is beyond my scope, that would be your call.

Ivan

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22

I would like to add a PS to my earlier post.

The amalgam filling was replaced by a gold crown. It is at the back of my jaw and gold is malleable enough to withstand chewing pressure. A stainless would have been fine.

The few fillings I have received in many years is the non-amalgam and colored to match my teeth. I would not go with amalgam today and would be very upset if my dentist used it against my wishes.

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Homeopathy is nonsense. Don’t believe it. Homeopathy is based on the idea that “like cures like” and that water molecules retain some kind of memory of materials that are dissolved in the water. So the process is they create a solution of water with another thing, and then dilute that concentration more and more. Homeopathy believes that the more dilute a product is, the more effective it is.

Do not accept services from homeopathy “practitioners”.

Do not trust anecdotes about people’s experiences. Anecdotes are not data. There is a place for opinions, but opinions are not facts.

I don’t base health care decisions on my opinions and how I feel about things. That seems like a bad idea considering how little i know about medicine and my own body.

But seriously, homeopathy is terrible. Homeopathic products have caused lead poisoning in babies.

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It sounds like homeopathy works on something called the placebo effect. And, while nobody actually knows why, the placebo effect is, well, effective.

Now there are quacks, crooks and charlatans in every practice for sure. Especially practices that aren’t well-understood. But I wouldn’t write off the concept of homeopathy as being nonsense. Humans have a lot to learn about how our bodies work and heal, remember it was less than a hundred years ago that doctors recommended radium and cigarettes as part of a healthy lifestyle.

We laugh at how ignorant the medical industry was back then. In another hundred years I suspect people will be doing the same at what we think we know now.

Assuming WW3 hasn’t obliterated life as we know it from the planet by then.

Ivan

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Homeopathy is not based on the placebo effect. Homeopathy is based on theories that cannot be observed, and treatments that are not proven effective by scientific studies. If a person doesn’t believe that the world can be understood by the scientific method, that person might as well believe that the Roman mythology was “true” or “real” for them but not true for us, because we understand more about the world now.

Placebo effect is observable, but not reliable. I don’t have a problem with speculation, but I can’t understand why speculation would be valued more than the scientific method. I wouldn’t trust my health to a placebo effect.

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Your final point is the one where we differ then, because I do in fact rely on placebos to to a greater extent than I rely on current Western medical doctrine. And for me, it seems to be working as I’ve never had to go to a general practitioner, although I visit my dentist regularly and my optometrist every few years.

As far as reliability in general, it’s arguable as to what method delivers more consistent results since the current medical industry has little profit to make from investigating anything that allows an individual to cure himself or herself of any given ailment. Therefore most “alternative” solutions remain relegated to non-mainstream.

I realize we’re getting off-topic here but if you’d like to continue this discussion I’m open to DMs or starting another thread?

Ivan

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So, I wasn’t going to say anything else, but I was mulling over your response, and I just wanted to clarify that I am not conflating Homeopathy with all the myriad of “alternative” medicine methods. I’m really only very specifically talking about Homeopathy. Homeopathy was developed 200 years ago in Germany, and a core philosophy is that there is an inverse relationship between the amount of a substance that is included in the “medicine” and its effectiveness.

So, I’m not saying that all non-western medicine is a crock, just Homeopathy. It’s real easy to conflate Homeopathy with other forms of “alternative” medicine. It’s also a western medicine doctrine. Just not modern, nor is it even based in logic. The idea that a medicine could be more effective if you take less of it is nonsense. In fact, homeopathic medicine is not just diluted with water, in some cases they use special hammers to hit the containers of water in order to “potentise” the water. Here’s another quote about how Homeopathic treatments are made, it mentions shaking:

The preparation of homoeopathic medicines consists of repeated dilution and shaking called ‘potentisation’. Homeopaths believe this process renders the remedies capable of stimulating the body’s natural healing forces.

After the 12th dilution, there is no discernible chemical trace of the original substance left in the medicine, but homeopaths believe the preparation retains the qualities of the original substance.

Again, I’m not saying that chinese medicine (or traditional, native/indiginous medicinal treatments) aren’t effective, I’m just saying Homeopathy is nonsensical. I’m specifically saying it’s nonsense, because Homeopaths believe that medicine is more effective if you take a lower dose of it. While most homeopathic treatments are simply ineffective (because it’s just water), there have been cases of lead poisoning in babies when they were given “homeopathic” teething toys. So, please be careful and considered when you consider using alternative medical treatments, but avoid Homeopathy completely, because it’s nonsense.

One more thing. I’m a pretty healthy 43 year old, except for slightly elevated blood pressure, and I see a doctor and a dentist regularly now. But there was a period of time in my life when I didn’t see a doctor or a dentist for around 10 years. I was pretty healthy with the exception of a back injury (which I treated via Chiropractic), which has continued to bother me for almost 20 years. Even after I got married, I have visited a doctor pretty regularly, but I only started taking medicine for my blood pressure last year. What’s amazing about that is, I relied on almost entirely no medicine at all during the last 20 years. So, while I appreciate that you feel like your good health is maintained by alternative treatments, my good health was maintained by nothing (mainstream, because chiropractic counts as alternative afaik) for at least 15 years. Even after we had kids who went to daycare and got sick a bunch of times during their first few years of exposure, I got sick way less than my wife and my kids. And I didn’t stay away from them when they were sick with all sorts of regular things.

I guess one more thing; I have a very low opinion of Homeopathy, but I’m writing all of this from a pretty neutral place, emotionally speaking. I hope no-one feels attacked personally here by my comments, and I’m sorry if you do. My intention is only to very firmly present evidence that Homeopathy is nonsense.

I feel like I’ve effectively communicated my points; but if anyone is interested in further discussion here or via DM, I’m game.

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It sounds like you’ve pretty well made up your mind regardless of anything said to the contrary here so just go do it.

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So I was supposed to get a small white filling on my back molar. And the dentist an old army one…. Drilled all through the healthy parts and filled with amalgam. My tooth is now sensitive and I can’t stand it. Saw a new dentist that is homeopathic and he advised extraction as what was left of the tooth that was good got drilled away. A bad dentist took my tooth from me this week. And honestly I’m more upset about it than I thought I would be. I get it removed in the am. Happy to just get this nightmare over with at this point. I will never not go to a homeopathic dentist again lol. Anyone saying otherwise I truly feel you lucked out or have been duped. Btw it’s public knowledge the amalgam is bad now. And the reaction my gums have had from it tells me all I need to know…. Crazy world we live in :sweat_smile:

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It’s interesting to see everyone’s viewpoint about it. Sadly the sensitivity of the tooth doesn’t leave me much of a choice at this point regardless

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Have read many things like this online. I’m happy to be rid of it! Just gotta suffer a little first for the second time this week :joy:

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I will note dentistry I kind of like eyeglasses at least in the US. Nearly 90% of all major practices are managed or owned by one company. Heartland dental. They go by a bunch of other names as they buy family practices all over the US. There biggest goal is dell the most expensive procedure. They have sales summits annually and being all there office staff in for training constantly.

Eyeglasses sane deal one company owns like 90% of all the brands available and jacks up the prices.

With that said there are private practices many are tight on funds and short staffed. Be ominous a dentist in the US is also wildly expensive and elitist. It’s very hard to get into a school unless you know the right folks or have the money to do so or are willing to take an absurd amount of debt.

All that to say. Keep your wits about you at all times when dealing with folks and your mouth. It’s an odd space that can feel shady at times snd your teeth generally aren’t considered medically important to insurance.

So whatever you feel is best. If your having an actual reaction get it looked at but in my experience amalgam once in isn’t that terrible. Your more likely to get messed up by an inexperienced dental hygienist a bit overzealous with the acid than have problems with that filling…

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All this to say I’m happy I got it the ■■■■ out of my mouth haha. But yeah it seems like a shady business to me all around. The homeopathic dentist is waaayyyy better and I’m upset I didn’t go there first but what do you do hindsight is a bitch

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