I had 3 mercury fillings done 10 years ago, I had flu like symptoms, when I went back after a week, the NHS dentist in Putney London said 'oh you might have mercury poisoning ha ha ha!'.

He said it fades over a year in definite stages. They all know about it as sometimes excess mercury gets in the gums or wherever when they fit them. Dentists reckon the amalgam, when set, is safe (like concrete has no bits of sand left in it).

However I had bad sleep, mild anxiety, etc, but not sure if this was high pressure job at the time, or fillings (this is always the problem of knowing what is what).

So I went to Guys Hospital in London and had a proper mercury test done, they said no sign of any in system/tissues/blood. The Professor who did the tests (no expense spared on the good old NHS) obviously thought I was wasting their time but was all done properly. They have more serious cases of poisoning to deal with, and are not interested or able to analyse low dose long term mercury poisoning.

I previously went to a 'mercury free' NHS dentist, not as part of dental insurance or a dental plan, who did a test, which was a weird test to do with absorption of mercury, using a chelating test, which had a high figure. He assured me it was the highest (=bad) figure he had ever seen, but the Professor said it didn't mean anything as no base figures were available, and chelation just pulls molecules from wherever and could be anything.

This would not have been on dental insurance or your dental plan as it counts as cosmetic, even though you might feel ill and blame it on mercury posioning - which is not a media or alternative medicine industry invention.

Chelation is a chemical action where the mercury is grabbed by 'arms' on the active molecule like a crab (hence the name), the resultant compound can then be excreted. Some fish and seafood is full of mercury for instance. So are low energy light bulbs - which need a license to be disposed of correctly.

Mercury is a nasty poison and very bad for the environment so should be phased out anyway, although the fillings are very hard and long lasting, unlike white fillings. I think Sweden and US have banned mercury, or provide warnings on use.

Removing mercury fillings is very difficult and can poison the patient, it requires special suction equipment, and is very expensive (I was quotes 4000 UK pounds for about 6 fillings, about 2004).

But who knows? It is one of those odd things. Is it paranoia? Advice includes, don't grind teeth, no hot drinks, don't smoke a pipe, etc.

Better to not put them in 'just in case' - with white fillings available at all dentists now, although they are not as hard or long-lasting.