Dear Colleague:

Have you ever wondered about amalgam tattoos? - those blue-purple discolorations of oral mucosa near amalgam filled teeth, or where amalgam filled teeth previously existed?  Biological dentists generally recommend they be surgically removed as part of an amalgam removal treatment plan.  However sometimes they appear years after amalgam fillings have been removed.  What then?

Amalgam tattoos are not limited to just the mucosa.  In fact they are usually the "tip of the iceberg" and can extend deep into the tissues.  They harbour accumulations of  amalgam granules, toxic debris and various forms of bacterial and other infection.

This last point, that amalgam tattoos are not just a "mercury problem" was demonstrated to me recently by a 74 year old man in my practice.  He had first come to me six years previously with severe chronic fatigue of 3 years duration.  It had spoiled his retirement and he and his wife had had to give up their home in the country and move to town because of his fatigue.  He was diagnosed with mercury toxicity; had his many amalgam fillings replaced; and underwent a detoxification program involving intravenous injections of DMPS.  He did very well and was restored to normal health and vitality.

This time his complaint was pain in his right temple radiating into his eye for two weeks.  This had been preceded by an acute pharyngitis and conjunctivitis (treated with an antibiotic) during a time of emotional stress.

He had already seen his family doctor, who quite rightly suspected temporal arteritis. His sedimentation rate was 59 and he was placed on Prednisone as a precaution against the (related) eye-threatening condition of Giant Cell arteritis.  The Prednisone caused night mares, insomnia, and stomach upset, so he stopped them after 3 days. A temporal artery biopsy was scheduled for a week later. 

On the first visit, (because of the strong correlation between autoimmune diseases of the polymyalgia type and periodontal infection), I immediately examined his teeth and noted a large mercury tattoo on the buccal side of tooth 2.7  (or tooth 15 by the American convention).  Autonomic response testing indicated an interference field that reversed with the presence of both mercury and Notakehl (a Sanum remedy useful in dental infection).