Thanks for the response. I’m scheduled to get my cavity taken care of tomorrow morning. I won’t be having another cavity ever again because I am very serious about my dental health and will be for the rest of my life (: the bleach protocol has given me the tool to effectively take care of my mouth and feeling like I can accomplish this without breaking the bank.
I was amazed because when I first started your routine (which was o course when I first started flossing as well), my gums were bleeding like crazy everytime I flossed. They also really hurt to floss. I still have a bit of pain when I floss but I didn’t really notice that the bleeding stopped. So when the dentist remarked how healthy my gums were (and she said “wow, your gums aren’t bleeding at all, that’s very unusual for my patients!”) I remembered how bad it was a mere few weeks ago.
To follow up on the staining, after my cleaning (as expected) the brown staining is completely gone. My teeth look so refreshed - much whiter than they were before. Would you say it is okay to use any of the over the counter whitening products (such as 5 minute whitening system - https://www.walmart.com/ip/Plus-White-5-Minute-Premier-Speed-Teeth-Whitening-Gel-2-oz/23788101 or alternative)? Or should I be able to maintain perfectly white teeth with a cleaning every 6 months and my routine?
Also, I gotta ask, and I think I know what answer you’ll give me but... This guy at the gym was telling me Mercury fillings are problematic. He recommended Mercury free dentistry . Any validity to his concerns? Guy was, admittedly, a bit of a nut.
Whitening: if between cleaning your teeth start to get less white, you can use any over the counter whitening agent. It won’t hurt your teeth. Follow the instructions closely. Some can burn your gums because they use too strong a solution of the whitening agent or the user thinks that if five minutes is good, ten must be better. It isn’t.
Mercury Amalgam. Metallic Mercury can be dangerous, however Amalgam is an alloy. As it erodes from your teeth, which is very slow, remains an alloy. The Amalgam Alloy has been used for over 150 years and nothing in science has shown to be generally dangerous about it. Some people have used anecdotal evidence to claim it’s dangerous to have amalgam fillings by saying that people who have had them removed are healthier. . . however that is a very subjective finding, not objective. In most instances, those who go to the trouble and expense of having a dentist remove the mercury amalgam fillings and replace them with plastic or ceramic fillings have a vested interest in having a good result and will find they feel better due to the placebo effect because of self-fulfilling desire for it to be so. There are ZERO objective findings to back up these “feelings” that they “feel” better. Would it were so we could solve such problems as the aches and pains of growing older by such a simple approach as not having cavities filled with a “dangerous” poisonous metal. . . but it just isn’t.
That’s not to say there are NOT a small minority of people who have a sensitivity to Mercury. Those people do exist, just as there are people who have a sensitivity to Nickel and cannot wear gold jewelry alloyed with Nickel which includes White Gold, or some Sterling Silvers, or even react adversely to handling a five cent coin! However, the percentage of the population with a Mercury allergy or sensitivity is a fraction of 1/10th of one percent. Very, very small. It’s a question on the history we take of all patients about whether they’ve ever had a reaction to eye drops, etc., because many of such drops have a mercury based preservative.
In any case, many studies have been done where people have been questioned about the overall state of their health and the aches and pains they feel. . . and then they are examined for the number and condition of their fillings. There is NO correlation between those aches, pains, health, and whether they have amalgam fillings, plastic fillings, stainless steel fillings (Russian dentists do not use amalgam), or no fillings at all. Ergo, there is little to show any effect one way or the other between the health of an individual and what kind of fillings that was used on his or her teeth if any. So, I wouldn’t worry.