How functional dentistry can help to reduce immune and toxic stress
The oral-systemic connection is important for those with autoimmune disease
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The family joke is that Mom pulls everyone out of school and work for an entire day, twice a year, just so we don’t get dental work.
I like my dentists conservative and careful. That is what functional, biological dentistry is all about, and this integrative physician and mom who is living with multiple sclerosis (MS) insists on it for herself and her kids.
I was particularly excited about our last visit because I was getting my last two remaining “silver” amalgam fillings (which are at least 50% mercury by weight) removed. These fillings were creating a measurable electrical current between adjacent teeth, and the benefits of amalgam removal outweighed the risks of mercury exposure during the removal process.
If you live with MS, I’m guessing that at some point someone has sent you an article suggesting mercury might be the culprit. I get these articles all the time from patients and people who care about me. (If you’re one of the people who’s sent me that article, thank you!) While there is no definitive evidence that mercury causes MS, there is a correlation between elevated mercury levels and autoimmunity. One 2015 study noted, “Methylmercury, at low levels generally considered safe, was associated with subclinical autoimmunity among reproductive-age females.”
As a matter of fact, I have had elevated blood mercury levels for at least a decade and have done my best to minimize my ongoing, avoidable exposures. I run high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters in my home because coastal California fog can carry mercury. We drink tap water filtered through reverse osmosis. I stick to low-mercury fish, which means no more tuna sushi rolls.
Despite these precautions, my mercury levels remained elevated. I suspected the main ongoing source was a mouth full of amalgam fillings dating all the way back to grade school, in addition to ongoing exposures from air, water, and food.
For me, this wasn’t about curing MS. It was about removing one more unnecessary source of immune and toxic stress from a body that was already working overtime.
The value of nontoxic dentistry
Early in my functional medicine training, I heard Mary Ellen Chalmers, DMD, lecture on nontoxic dentistry. With her impressive background as a naturopathic doctor, she helped me understand the oral-systemic connection. For example, poor oral health increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
As someone living with a chronic autoimmune disease, I appreciate functional dentistry’s “less is more” approach. Chalmers uses advanced tools to monitor teeth and recommends sealants and fillings only when diet and good oral hygiene are not doing the trick. She also prioritizes safer, more inert materials for dental work because any foreign material placed in the body has the potential to stimulate the immune system. This is something I am always mindful of since my immune system is already misbehaving.
Along the timeline of my life, there have been multiple hits to my immune system: childhood stress causing my nervous system to get stuck in overdrive, early antibiotics disrupting my gut microbiome, and ongoing toxic exposures acting as immune disruptors — all of which have likely pushed my autoimmune process forward, eventually leading to my diagnosis of MS. Mercury was just one more factor that strained my immune system.
On the big day of my amalgam removal, Chalmers and her staff followed a protocol for the safe removal of mercury-containing amalgam fillings that went something like this:
I was given a capsule of charcoal before the procedure, which acts as a binder for any mercury that might escape into my bloodstream during the removal process. Once I was numbed up, I was draped from head to toe, with my mouth as the only exposed area. A medical-grade HEPA air filter was placed near my mouth to scavenge any mercury vapor that escaped. Chalmers and her assistant worked quickly and efficiently to remove the two large fillings.
My teeth were restored with a ceramic material made by Voco that is inert, durable, and nontoxic. I took two more doses of charcoal that day, and that was the end of it.
Chalmers did warn me that people with autoimmune disease often have increased sensitivity after a procedure like this, and I did experience that in teeth with extensive dental work on the other side of my mouth. I continued to hydrate and eat well, and those symptoms subsided within a few days.
Functional dentists like Chalmers are hard to come by. The good news is that she and a large team of practitioners have launched The Institute for Functional Dentistry to train dentists in nontoxic practices. On their website, you can locate dentists committed to safer dentistry while paying careful attention to the oral-systemic connection.
Hopefully, soon you won’t have to drive a hundred miles to see a dentist. I’ll probably still make the drive, because Chalmers is worth every mile.
Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Multiple Sclerosis News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis.
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