It's still amazing to me that I'm finally getting this work done.

First I want to offer a huge and heartfelt thank you to those of you who have offered supported by purchasing my e-book Beyond Grain & Dairy, or have used one of my affiliate links – because to be completely honest with you –  it is the only way I have been able to begin the process of getting these amalgams removed properly. THANK YOU so very much.

Wednesday last week was D-Day. Dentist Day. Originally I scheduled my appointment for the last Wednesday in January and I was only going to have the cracked amalgam replaced, and one other amalgam. Then my friend Patty from Loving Our Guts told me she had read in Dr. Hal Huggins' book that we should get all the amalgams removed from one side first, then all the amalgams from the other side. In two visits. Preferably within 21 days. Ai-yi-yi.

I had been listening to the speakers in the HealThy Mouth World Summit and had also ordered It's All in Your Head: The Link Between Mercury Amalgams and Illness for myself (this is the book by Dr. Hal Huggins) so information was flowing into my head from all over the place. One thing I felt completely reassured about was my dentist. From everything I was hearing and reading, he was doing things the right away. So that was a great relief to not have to worry about that.

Dr. Huggins recommends a whole list of tests that should be done prior to having amalgams removed, mostly so that one has some way of tracking progress. For example, you can find out how much mercury is in your body with a urine test and hair analysis. It is very expensive to have the amalgams removed and replaced properly as it is. I talked with another friend, Kristina from No Junque Living and she said that she wouldn't let the tests keep me from moving forward. I did decide to invest in the dental sensitivities testing, that was $275 plus $50 shipping. Anyone can order that test, you don't need to go through a dentist. Now whether your dentist will take care to not use any ingredients to which you are highly sensitive is another story.

I'm really glad I ended up postponing my January appointment, because as it turns out I was pretty stressed that weekend before the original appointment. I was kind of freaked out by the decision I'd made, to spend so much money all at once on FIVE amalgams. Because who knows if this will make a difference in my health? I think it will, but what if it doesn't? Or, what is something goes wrong? What if one of the fillings is just so deep that I have to get a crown, or have it removed altogether? More expense for which I did not have the money.

I had heard it was a good idea to get either a high dose of Vitamin C intravenously or to get glutathione intravenously. I'd also heard about Liposomal Vitamin C. In order to get the Vitamin C IV, I would have had to pay $150 to become a new patient of the doctor, and then $120 for the IV. I decided to try making the Liposomal C. Actually, I had my husband make it. I plan to post on this soon, but for the time being you can check out the video we followed here: How to Make Homemade Liposomal Vitamin C.

Okay, so now I will tell you about my appointment.

Historically I have had trouble becoming numb, so I told the dental receptionist about this and we agreed that I would come in 30 minutes earlier, just in case.

Supporting My Adrenals

You may or may not be aware that my adrenals crashed in August 2011 when I had an accident involving jalapeno peppers. After three weeks I finally gave in and went to Urgent Care and was put on steroids to relieve the constant itching and swelling. After that I started on hydrocortisone (HC) support for my adrenals with the consent of my naturopathic doctor. I mention this because I am still supporting my adrenals and this complicates everything because in fact, my adrenals are currently suppressed due to the dosage which I administer daily. I have to be keenly aware of how I feel and give myself what is referred to as a “stress dose” otherwise I could go into shock. This is not thrilling to me to be dependent like this, but it is where I am in my healing journey. In a nutshell, I view this treatment as giving my adrenals a complete rest so that they can heal. If I had a broken leg, I'd have a cast and I look at this in the same way. I have mentioned this on occasion here on the blog, but I don't talk about it a lot. At any rate, with this information, I'll continue to tell you about my appointment.

Thankfully, I had slept well the night before, and for the previous few nights. I think that made all the difference because I was not sleep deprived. My appointment was at 1pm. I drove over to the dentist's office from work. It felt surreal. The sun was really bright and my stomach was churning a little because I felt anxious. I'd administered my regular noon dose of “10” HC, and I'd asked on the list I'm about stress dosing for dental appointments. I was told I may need an extra “5” before going into the appointment. Since I was feeling so nervous, I administered that dose.

I also had a homeopathic remedy I was planning to use called Body Mend from a local holistic doctor. I took the recommended amount.

When I got into the dentist's office, I realized I was still quite nervous, so I gave myself another small dose of HC. It is so tricky trying to figure out how much my body needs, but I have gotten pretty confident in my ability to judge what I need. After the numbing gel was applied and the numbing medicine injected, I found myself in tears, not sure if I could make it through. The dental assistant was explaining the process and I felt so weepy. That was an indication that I needed more adrenal support. This time I decided to give myself a regular dose “10”. Within seconds I felt calm. I was relieved, because I knew once the dentist started working in my mouth I wasn't going to have much control.

Making Light of the Moment

The dental assistant was showing me this contraption they were going to put into my mouth, which was going to protect all of my teeth except for the ones being worked on. It was blue and looked like a diaphragm. I mentioned that, and the woman giggled, agreeing that it did look like one. We both admitted we'd never used one, but know what they look like. Then she explained they would spread a chelation gel into the diaphragm, she then giggled again as we both thought about the similarities to the diaphragm. Then when I pulled out my earbuds and pulled them up under my shirt so they would not get in the dentist's way, she pointed out that they looked like fallopian tubes. Heehee. By then I was starting to feel a lot more comfortable.

The Procedure

The first thing I had to do was rinse my mouth with a chelation rinse which was supposed to function as a way to hang onto any mercury that might somehow slip through the cracks of my protective dental dam.

Since I was completely numb on the upper and lower left side of my mouth, it was a challenge to swish. I ended up dripping all over my paper bib. 🙂   She got me a clean one. Then the dental dam was stuffed into my mouth. Literally.

Two things. First, it was really great to not have the pieces of mercury falling down into the back of my throat and getting stuck in my over-sized tonsils. Two… I tried not to think about the fact that I could not say anything because there was no way to talk with that contraption in my mouth.

The dentist used floss to push the dental dam down into the spaces in between my teeth. The chelation gel was applied to the inside of the dental dam. I believe the dental assistant said the mercury dust sticks to it.

I had my Kindle with me, and had planned to listen to the book I'm currently reading, but I hadn't figured out how to turn up the volume and the sound of drilling in my head completely overwhelmed the sound of my Kindle reading to me.

In addition to the dental dam, I was fitted with a pair of safety glasses, and another contraption was fitted snugly over my nose to protect me from the mercury dust and administer oxygen. There was a big hose looking thing that was loud and sucked the mercury dust into it while the dentist worked.

The dentist and his assistant both wore industrial-type breathing apparatus to protect themselves from the mercury dust.

The drilling was so loud in my head, but I felt nothing. Only the pressure of the drill. They removed the three amalgam fillings from the bottom first.

That was when I remembered that I had wanted to have the negative/positive charge testing done. Oops. Too late. In Dr. Huggins' book he talked about how he always does the charge testing because he's had people end up in the emergency room with erratic heart beats after removal of amalgams in the wrong order. Well, at that point I could only dismiss the thought from my mind. I would have to be okay. Or I'd have to go to the ER. It would be okay, I told myself.

After the bottom  fillings were gone they removed the dental dam and I had to do another chelation rinse. Again it was a challenge to swish and I ended up spewing the liquid onto my arm and floor. Embarrassing!

Then another dental dam was installed into my mouth. More chelation gel. More pressing firmly with floss to secure the dental dam between my teeth.

More drilling. You know the drill. During this time the dentist told me, “This tooth has a very large hole in it, young lady. Starlene. This tooth could blow up on you at any time.”

Uh. Hmmm… thanks, doc. I couldn't say a word. I just laid there, thinking about this. Wondering exactly what this meant.

After the dental dam was removed, I had to do my final chelation rinse. This time I managed to keep the liquid in my mouth instead of all over myself or the floor.

Now it was time for the dentist to replace my fillings. He had to do a tiny bit more drilling, to remove some decay that had been under the amalgam fillings. He told me 100% of the time there is decay under amalgams. I guess that makes since as they probably cannot see decay under the silver fillings in the x-rays.

Then it was time to adjust my bite.

I hate that part because it is hard to figure out sometimes. I told the dentist that there was too much filling blocking me from closing my mouth properly, but when he put that paper into the right side of my mouth I was able to hold onto it between my teeth so he called it done. It is still not right, so I will see how it goes in the next few days. Maybe it will wear down on its own. If not, I will be calling him to get it corrected.

Finally we were done. I asked the dentist what he meant by saying my tooth was going to blow up. He said that I could begin having trouble with the tooth any time but he thought it would surely cause me trouble within two years. I asked him how to preempt the problem, and asked about having the tooth pulled. He said that was a solution.

We also talked about my only crowned tooth which has a cavity under the gum line. At my last appointment with this dentist, he told me about the cavity and he told me I should go back to my traditional dentist and have him take care of it. So I did that. My traditional dentist told me there is no cavity.

My dentist took some instrument and lightly poked the cavity which made me jump. He said, “That's the cavity that I was talking about.” I told him I know something isn't right because… and he said, “Your tooth has been talking to you?” That is exactly right. I have felt something going on, not pain, but a feeling that something is not right.

That tooth also has to be repaired.

But first, the other six need to be removed.

I was kind of disoriented after the appointment was through. I asked the receptionist if I could write a check and she told me that I could, and I would receive a 5% discount! Awesome! I am so glad I was able to save the money to have this procedure done. I had trouble writing the check – it was like my brain was not functioning. I had to void two checks before I got it correct.

After the Appointment

After the appointment I took my dose of Body Mend, and I called the floatation spa. I bought a float there for $10 some time ago with Groupon and I thought it would be the perfect way to relax after the dental work. I had called the day before but they were booked solid. So I told them I would just try calling after my appointment to see if they had a cancellation.

I was out of the dentist office in less than 2 hours, and when I called the floatation spa, they had had a cancellation and the appointment was available in one hour. That gave me enough time to drive there and I tried their oxygen bar.

The float wasn't as relaxing as my first float. I couldn't completely relax, but I did almost fall asleep about four times because my body did that weird shaking where you jerk when you are almost falling to sleep.

I finally got home and drank my Liposomal C. Later I found that my husband forgot to put it into the ultrasonic machine. Oops!

Reaction to the Removal

I have been being careful to not chew on that side, giving my mouth a chance to recover from the work done there.

Right after the removal, I did seem to feel better. Lighter. I don't know if it was my imagination.

The first thing I noticed was I slept very peacefully that night. I usually wake up several times in the night with a panicked feeling. It is mostly about my job because there is too much work for one person to complete and I am always running behind, never able to get caught up. It makes me feel horrid but I don't know what else to do but keep trying to get caught up.

I have not had any detox reactions that I know of.

I am glad to have the mercury out of my mouth.

OH, I forgot one more thing that I will try to blog about in a few days. I had some blood work done, and my results came back looking pretty good. Better than last year around this same time. I wanted to get blood drawn before the amalgams were removed to see if my body will correct itself after the mercury is no longer swirling around in my body. Dr. Hal Huggins says that some people's temperatures have become normal after their amalgams were removed.

Thank you for reading through this extremely long post. I would love to hear from you in the comments if you have any questions, or if you have been through this yourself.

 

 

 

 

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