Page 24 - Summer2008

of the humors through strong drugs such as calomel, which could have a notion that all life is an expression of nervous
violent laxative effect. This philosophy, as well as the methods used, had force and that disease is due to a failure of its
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not really changed since the time of Paracelsus. What did change, how- regulatory powers, leading either to exaggeration
ever, was the strength of the therapies, thanks to men like William Cullen of nervous functions or to weakness of them. . .
and his American pupil, Benjamin Rush (1746-1813), whose “heroic,” or Treatment. . . must aim to build up nervous energy
excessive doses of calomel and other toxic therapies would reverberate for by restorative drugs and diet or to reduce it by
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a century. bleeding, purging and semi-starvation.”

Benjamin Rush was a longtime friend of Benjamin Franklin, whose Another important inuence on Rush, per-
letters of introduction opened many doors for Rush. Rush began his medi- haps the most important, was Thomas Sydenham,
cal studies in 1761 at the age of 15 through an apprenticeship in Philadel- “a 17th-century London practitioner, without aca-
phia with Dr. John Redman, who according to Rush had one of the most demic position or pretensions. . . the  rst modern

“extensive business[es]” in Philadelphia and who also was a rm believer clinician.” According to Binger, “Sydenham
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in bloodletting and “purging,” that is, causing forceful evacuation of the was concerned with the description of symptoms
bowels. Rush studied with Redman for  ve years. At the time there were and their changes rather than with speculations
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not yet any “well-established” medical schools in the Colonies, and so in in natural philosophy. . . He recognized symp-

September 1766, Rush headed to Scotland, to nish his medical training toms as the expression of the struggle between
at the University of Edinburgh, just as Redman had done. (Redman had the nature of the sick person and the noxious

studied with Cullen and was a protégé of Boerhaave.) inuences that produced illness. In other words,
One of the most inuential gures for Rush in Edinburgh was Wil- he saw them as part of nature’s healing activity,

liam Cullen. Rush biographer, Carl Binger states, “From him Rush got his and from this he concluded that the doctor’s goal

DENTAL AMALGAMS: WHAT THE ADA DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW

The word “amalgam” means a mixture of mercury with other metals. Dental amalgam fillings containing silver
and mercury were introduced in the 1830s; however, the fillings would expand uncontrollably, and thus tin, copper,
and zinc were added shortly thereafter. The formula for dental amalgams has remained basically the same for the last
hundred years, and there is great controversy over their safety, as more and more dentists join together to speak out
about the toxic effects of dental amalgams.
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Each mercury amalgam filling contains about 50 percent mercury by weight—between 100 to 1000 mg of mercury.
On average, one amalgam filling contains the same amount of mercury as one mercury thermometer—500 mg (1/2
gram)—which is enough to make a 20-acre lake unsafe for fishing. (Many municipalities are taking steps to eliminate
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the mercury wastewater that is discharged from dental offices into sewage, since this mercury combines with microflora
to become methyl mercury, thus polluting the entire food chain. )
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Presented as an economical way to restore teeth, amalgam fillings never stop emitting mercury vapors, from the
time they are manufactured to the time they are removed from or fall out of a person’s mouth (or the person with the
filling dies). This means that a person with mercury amalgam fillings inhales mercury vapors 24 hours a day, especially
when ingesting hot liquids or foods, chewing gum, or even brushing teeth, with the mercury accumulating in all of the
tissues. For a pregnant woman, this mercury crosses the placental barrier and begins to accumulate in fetal tissues,
long before the baby receives its first thimerosal-containing vaccine, and women with amalgam fillings generally have
more mercury in their breastmilk than those without amalgams. According to Stephen Koral, the average person with
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dental amalgams inhales about 10 micrograms (mcg) of mercury per day, far above the recommended Tolerated Daily
Intake (TDI) of .014mcg Hg/m3 air/kg of body weight as set by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(ATSDR) of the U.S. Public Health Service. Animal studies show a concentration of mercury from amalgam fillings in
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the kidneys, gums, jaw, liver, and especially in the digestive tract, and blood levels of mercury in humans correspond
to the number of dental amalgams that a person has. In addition, there is an increased release of vapors when other
metals are present in the form of gold restorations or crowns, orthodontia, and of course the other metals that make
up the amalgam filling itself.
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Koral establishes the following chain of toxic events: 1) amalgam releases significant amounts of mercury; 2) the
mercury distributes to tissues around the body, and is the biggest source of mercury body burden; 3) the mercury from
amalgam crosses the placenta and into breast milk, resulting in significant pre- and post-partum exposures for infants;
and 4) adverse physiological changes occur from that exposure on the immune, renal, reproductive and central nervous
systems, as well as the oral and intestinal flora.
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There is considerable evidence that amalgam fillings cause serious harm to dentists, dental assistants, as well as
22 Wise Traditions SUMMER 2008