I recently had a patient who out of extreme caution was debating mercury/amalgam tooth filling removal to ensure minimizing mercury exposure as pre-conception prepartions. Mercury as a heavy metal is known as a toxin to our body and with a growing fetus sharing the same blood supply as mom, everything mom eats, baby also receives and that includes the mercury in amalgam fillings that may have begun deteriorating and getting ingested.
As this was not an area I’m well-versed in, I spent a few hours looking at the research and data so that I can help my patient in making the best choice for herself and future pregnancies. Here are some of the research highlights. I understand that this blog article is very superficial and only contains very basic information. And so, if you’re struggling in creating a safe detox protocol in preparation for conception or you’re considering amalgam removal but not sure it’s the best option for you, book yourself in and we’ll review your health history and come up with the best treatment option for you (and that is for any and all detoxification goals)!
Yours in health,
Dr. Negin
Here are the findings:
1. “The daily amount of absorbed mercury estimated from atmospheric exposure in rural areas is about 32–64 ng and about 160 ng in urban areas [27]. This outdoor air exposure to elemental mercury is marginal when compared to the average estimated daily absorption through food consumption (±600 ng) or dental amalgam (3000–17,000 ng) [16].” From: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
2. “The results suggest that mercury exposure, irrespective of gender, is associated to periodontitis.” [in other words, with good oral hygeine, there’s lower mercury exposure]. Ibid.
3. “Some studies investigated spontaneous abortion and complicated fertility outcome due to occupational Hg exposure” [the doses of mercury exposure are at least 5x as high and over periods of months/years in occupational cases – like dentists and such, I doubt this caution would apply to those with a few amalgam fillings or those choosing to see a dentist to remove their fillings as a 1 or 2 day event]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
4. one of many Animal studies regarding Chlorella & mercury all with positive findings: “The results obtained here revealed that continuous [chlorella powder] intake suppressed MeHg transfer to the fetus, in addition to effective suppressing MeHg accumulation in brains of the mothers.” [Whatever you decide, based on animal studies at least, there appears to be some good evidence for prevention of mercury accumulation in baby if you take chlorella while pregnant]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
6. Saving best for last! A study listing dietary means of detoxifying various heavy metals (mostly lead and cadmium focused) BUT interesting finding regarding probiotics & mercury specifically: “Blood levels of mercury and arsenic of pregnant women increased in the control groups (p < 0.05) but remained stable in the probiotic group, indicating a protective effect of L. rhamnosus GR-1 consumption.” [Note: probiotics have many various strains, even within strains (eg. two priobiotics of the same name, have ‘subcategorization’) and so generally it is very important to do our best and give the right strain of probiotics for the condition we’re trying to treat].
