OCD Action

Rena32
Member

Does anyone have Mercury Amalgam (silver) Fillings in thier teeth? I have read that mercury from these fillings could cause OCD. Has anyone else read about this?

Fri Feb 12 2010 3:51:12 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

Hi Rena -

if I may ask: where did you read this? I myself read very much scientific literature on OCD, but never came across such a reference. However, I will search specifically for it, with the appropriate key terms.

For mercury to cause any effect, it would have to be set free and become reactive, or get deposited in a sensitive area linked to OCD; or in some blood vessel (e.g. a narrow spot).

At first sight, I would not worry about this if I were you. Should a connection exist, then, I think, it would have been recognized long, long ago, because hundreds of millions of people probably have such fillings.

Ciao, Cuthbert.

Fri Feb 12 2010 8:33:32 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

Hi Rena, me again -

I looked up your question. I can now safely say that mercury from dental fillings has not been identified as a causal factor in OCD. In general, there are no significant associations between mercury and anxiety disorders. There was one interesting article on the side: there are people who have excess fears about 'something toxic' affecting their mood and their health; might be air pollution, might be coming from inside, such as dental fillings, or surgical material. Specifically, a test was run in which such fearful clients were given either a substance that really 'captured' mercury from fillings that had gone into bodily fluids (such as saliva); or a placebo (a pill with no real effect at all). The anxiety patients benefitted from both types of pills. That means that the mercury isn't responsible for mood problems, and also that the patients' strong belief that their 'medication' helped, was in itself enough to give them ease of mind.

Fri Feb 12 2010 10:39:00 #
Unregistered

Oh dear, as soon as I saw this title it has all flooded back with a vengeance. I have a mouthfull of amalgam fillings, mostly because of what I believe to have been an unscrupulous dentist in the late '60s who on discovering I was 3 months pregnant and entitled to free NHS treatment put 16 amalgam fillings into my previously lovely teeth - and just 3 months after a had seen another dentist who had told me my teeth were free of decay. But this has not affected my OCD at all and at the age of 64 I have just completed my "one million women" long term survey questionnaire and I seem to be pretty healthy physically.
I believe the problem with amalgam fillings, as with many other OCD fears such as dog poo, radiation, etc is media hype. The thought goes in that something is harmfull and it just magnifies and magnifies out of all proportion.
My son's OCD went through the roof after a dentist put an amalgam filling into his mouth and he became obsessed with the thought that in every breath he was ingesting minute amounts of mercury. He reached a point where he was in a permanent state of near faint becuase he was afraid to braethe. Nothing would console him and now sevearl years later he is dead ironically having poisoned himself although by this time the fear of amalgam had moved on to other ways of self persecution. OCD is the problem, not the amalgam, and I'm really sorry if this upsets anyone but it is the fears that have to be overcome not the triggers.
Joyce

Fri Feb 12 2010 11:27:53 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

Hi there Joyce -

you raise a difficult point. Dentists are paid per 'operation' so to speak, and they do have the authority to do what they think is the right thing, even if this right thing is only the content of their own wallet. I think this is a very bad situation, inasmuch that it invites, triggers people's worst instincts (greed, lying), at the cost of the patient. I myself saw situations like yours in my own family. With the result that many got dentures much too early (see: their dentists also made dentures, and this was the usual 'big final cash-in' for the dentist; our own NHS paid for this replacement).

I'd always vote for free dental care, in such a way that a dentist won't benefit from a deliberately false diagnosis. So reimbursement of the dentist's work should be consistent and logical with the health of the patient's teeth.

But, given man's nature, I fear that interest groups and insurance bozos will always have the upper hand. Which is not often the morally best hand, I must add.

Fri Feb 12 2010 12:29:43 #
Rena32
Member

Hi Cuthbert, I googled (mercury fillings and OCD) and several topics popped up about it. I read them all. But of course, like you said, if this was a cause of OCD, and a connection did exist we would known by now. Thanks for looking up the information, it was very beneficial for me.

Fri Feb 12 2010 18:43:21 #
Unregistered

I heard, years ago, about a possible link. It has been discussed a great deal along with the link to strep infection. I don't believe either has been disproved.

I did know one person who had her mercury fillings removed and she claimed her OCD was cured.

Of course, OCD predates the use of these fillings, so it would only be one possible cause.

Beth.

Sat Feb 13 2010 14:24:56 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

Hiya Beth -

thanks for your addition. From my perspective I would say:

- the strep infection is still the subject of heavy debate. But there definitely seems to be something. Autoimmune reactions have been analyzed carefully, and a negative impact of some messenger molecules in the brain on certain areas implicated in OCD seems very likely (parts of the cortex, in fact, and perhaps the thalamus).

- mercury: you have a very good point: OCD was there long before fillings were introduced. Let's suppose this: a person has a tendency towards OCD, but it can be kept under control. Then this person realizes that he/she has 'strange stuff' (i.e. from outside, alien to the body) applied to the teeth. Maybe this idea alone is enough to trigger OCD symptoms. And then it is only logical that when the alien material is removed, the symptoms wane and dissappear. Because the reason for fear is not there anymore.

Sat Feb 13 2010 14:30:53 #
Rena32
Member

Hi Cuthbert, I would like your input on this: several weeks ago, I was given antibiotics for a sinus/ear infection, after finishing them I noted a huge improvement in my OCD symptoms, like never before, Could there be a link?

Sat Feb 13 2010 18:02:23 #
Unregistered

Hello Cuthbert, You raise some interesting points.

In my case, I believe my OCD is hereditary. I suffered from it from quite a young age, certainly before I received any amalgam fillings. Other members of my family have OCD. The lady I mentioned had no concerns about the fillings she was given, it was only after years of suffering with her obsessions that she read of a possible link, realizing her OCD began shortly after her dental work, she decided to have the fillings removed, just in case. The placebo effect can be incredibly strong, as I am sure you are aware, and therefore that in itself could be the reason for her improvement. The appearance of OCD symptoms shortly after receiving her fillings could be pure coincidence. Obviously, she is not an isolated case. Personally, I was extremely sceptical at the time. However, I would not rule anything out these days as a possible cause. We may well discover, one day, that there are many possible causes, which have led to confusion.

When I explained that my OCD was evident before my fillings, the lady asked whether my mother had amalgam fillings when she was pregnant with me. She did, so of course I could not argue against the lady’s theory. Samuel Johnson obviously didn’t have amalgam fillings, so his OCD was unrelated!

As a child, my OCD did seem to deteriorate after bouts of tonsillitis and even now I am worse after a physical illness, but there could be many reasons for that, also.

Best wishes,
Beth.

Sun Feb 14 2010 14:53:35 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

Hiya Rena and Beth -

thanks for your valid input. Rena: I will do a bit of literature research on antibiotics and OCD. I noted elsewhere that there may be a curious connection between one's gut flora (i.e. bacteria like E. coli, irritated inner bowel lineaments, the production of (auto)immune molecules, and alterations in the brain, possibly linked to mood disorders. So in theory it'd be not that far fetched to connect antibiotics with OCD symptom improvement - but this is as yet nothing more than an educated guess on my part. I'll keep you posted on this.

Beth: you raise good points. I'd say two things:
- OCD is as old as mankind itself. Yes, in a time when there were no mercury-containing fillings, there was plenty OCD doing the rounds.
- if OCD were significantly associated with mercury in fillings, we'd have seen an explosion of OCD symptoms with the advent of such fillings. However, we did not.

This is not to say that individual concerns should not be taken seriously. First and foremost, concerns of people with OCD should at all times be taken seriously, because the disorder is grave and impairs the quality of life to no small extent. I'd even go so far as to say that the content of the concerns deserves the second spot; the urgency and the gravity must take the first one.

Second: as you said, we have no guarantee that in the future connections might not be discovered between conditions and/or substances and materials on the one hand, and OCD on the other, that we don't have any inkling of nowadays.

Third: if one is pretty desperate about one's condition, one is prone to think of many not so obvious factors that might be causal to that condition. I myself recall thinking of the copper alloy water pipes that were in my bathroom and shower, in my old apartment, as possibly being connected to my OCD. This is not 'mad', it's just wanting to know where the disorder stems from.

That's it for now. I wish both of you a nice Sunday evening.

Cheers, Cuthbert.

Sun Feb 14 2010 15:45:08 #
Unregistered

Hi there everyone
Following my earlier posting I have been thinking about this subject and panic - sudden realisation my OCD started within a few weeks of the 16 fillings I mentioned earlier - this was over 40 years ago and it was common to get bits of amalgam in your mouth and to swallow them in those days - and with 16 fillings in 5 sessions over about a fortnight I would undoubtably have ingested a small amount of mercury amalgam. Similarly my son's OCD went haywire after his first amalgam fillings.
But my mother had a mouthful of amalgam and no OCD, my father presumably also had a mouthful of amalgam - and OCD. It might be that the age at which tooth decay needs attention is also the age at which OCD is likely to strike. I don't think there are any answers to this at the present time, we need to know far more about the effect of different substances on brain activity. However, if I were 23 again and could afford it I think I would opt for non- mercury fillings, even though the amalgam ones I had 40 years ago are still going strong.

Sun Feb 14 2010 18:52:45 #
Cuthbert ffoliott
Moderator

Hi Joyce -

your post made me think too. I thought: would it be possible that not the amalgam fillings per se have an affect, but more the combined factors of dental decay and the dentist's work? Because, I'd say, very sensitive, maybe inflammated gums, and bacterial/viral invasion of microscopic gum wounds could play a part in the story. But then... kids age 5 change their teeth anyway, and they are not especially prone to OCD developing suddenly.

At any rate, the story keeps on intriguing me.

Ciao, Cuthbert.

Mon Feb 15 2010 8:19:20 #
Wombat140
Member

What Rena32 said about the antibiotics is interesting, because this is quite a well-known idea in "alternative" treatment circles - both for OCD and for autism, Tourette's, etc. It's connected to the whole strep infection theory. There's a lot said about this on the forum at http://www.latitudes.com, for anyone who's interested. I just thought it was rather striking that Rena noticed an effect even though presumably she wasn't familiar with the idea of treating OCD with antibiotics.

Wombat140

PS Got no fillings.

Tue Feb 16 2010 20:28:42 #
Rena32
Member

As I contiune to research mercury exposure, I have found several other ways that a person may have been exposed to mercury including: certain vaccinations,fish, thermometers, certain light bulbs and certain batteries. Our genetic make-up could also cause certain individuals to be more sensitive to the effects of mercury. Also a certain level of mercury exposure can cause irreversible mental health problems, developing fetuses are also more sensitive to mercury and it's neurological effects if exposed while still in the womb.

Wed Feb 17 2010 1:51:40 #
Rena32
Member

I am finding out alot more about mercury and the nerological effects it can cause, as I mentioned in the post above, it can cause mental health problems and we can be exposed to it in many different ways.

Wed Feb 24 2010 4:50:51 #