Are composite fillings dangerous for children? A new study published in the Journal Pediatrics suggests so and is sure to have parents scrambling to figure out how to best deal with their children’s cavities.
Savvy parents have known for some time to avoid silver fillings given that mercury, a potent neurotoxin, is one of the key materials used to make them.
Now, examination of over 500 children over a five year period has indicated that even some white composite fillings are problematic to children’s neurology.
The likely culprit? BPA.
Many Composite Fillings Contain BPA
Many white composite fillings contain bisGMA, a synthetic material containing bispenol-A, more commonly known as BPA.
BPA is a well known hormone disrupting chemical linked to all manner of health problems in children and adults alike.
In this new study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and the New England Research Institutes, researchers suggest that composite fillings containing BPA degrade over time from chewing, thereby releasing ever increasing amounts of the chemical.
Children With BPA Composite Fillings Have More Behavior Problems
The most shocking aspect of this report is that children with silver (mercury) fillings displayed FEWER behavioral problems at the 5 year checkup than children with composite fillings!
In fact, researchers noted that children with silver fillings did not appear to suffer ill health effects at all, while those with BPA containing composite fillings were more likely to suffer from impaired psychosocial function such as depression, anxiety, and other forms of social stress.
The bottom line?
Be sure to query your dentist thoroughly before allowing any composite material to be put into your child’s mouth. Composites should be BPA free including similar chemicals like BPS.
In addition, it is best to avoid sealants on your child’s teeth as these contain very high levels of BPA or similar chemicals like BPS as well!
Holistic oriented dentists are already well aware of the potential problems with composite fillings as they test each individual patient for sensitivity using either blood tests or kinesiology to various filling materials before selecting the appropriate one that is the most benign for that patient’s particular biology.
Avoid Cavities With Diet
Better yet, avoid cavities in the first place through Traditional Diet. Traditional cultures rarely suffered from tooth decay as noted by researcher Dr. Weston A. Price, with liberal consumption of sacred foods containing Vitamins A/D/K2 by growing children the notable reason why.
The number one whole food supplement containing A/D/K2 for avoiding and even reversing cavities? High vitamin cod liver oil and butter oil each and every day!
If despite your best efforts, you do discover that your child has a cavity, learn to reverse the decay and avoid getting the tooth filled with the dietary guidelines outlined in the must have book Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities With Nutrition, by Rami Nagel.
I haven’t had a single case of tooth cavity since I started eating traditional several years ago (and I don’t use toothpaste either). Sadly my mouth is filled with both composite and amalgam fillings from earlier years (if only I was raised on a proper diet I might never have had to deal with any).
True. I’m just going to work really hard on not letting them get cavities in the first place!
Great article. I was about to have 2 mercury fillings replaced. Good information to know. Also, as an aside, I assume that skate oil and butter oil have the same effect on teeth. I ask because I have osteopenia and think that the increased vitamin D in skate oil might be more beneficial to me than CLO. Do you think that’s accurate?
@Rebekkah although for sure gut problems would contribute to an already existing problem!
@Rebekkah If that were true, the children with the amalgams and nonBPA composite fillings would have had behavior problems too and they did not.
Don’t you think that the correlation could just be diet? I mean, I’m not a fan of BPA, but if they are eating a SAD diet and have bad teeth, I’d bet they have major gut problems too.
There are some sealant materials that do not contain BPA.
That’s good to know, but it’s still bad to do sealants as the teeth continue to decay, cavities form under the sealants and the teeth crumble away after a few years. Sealants are a big moneymaker for dentists and they cause more problems than they solve. Diet is the only way to prevent cavities as they come from the inside out, not the outside in (although keeping teeth clean on the outside may delay the inevitable decay for a period of time).
A sealant should NEVER be placed on a tooth that has decay. Sealants are only indicated for teeth with no active caries lesion.
Sugar and simple carbs do lead to dental caries from the outside.
Lorri, the tooth still rots underneath the sealant even if there is no decay at the time the sealant is put on the tooth. Teeth decay from the inside out not the outside in. This is why sealants are always a bad idea. They don’t protect from decay at all.
This is interesting information. Actually, my son has had sealants on his molars for about 15 years now and he has never had any more trouble with decay, nor have any of his teeth crumbled away! They seem to be healthy and strong.
But, I wish I had known better back then, as I would probably have avoided the sealants altogether and also I would have asked more questions about the composite fillings we asked the dentist to fill his teeth with (over amalgam), although I don’t know that there was a great deal of choice in those days.
I think it would be really good to research if there is anything people can do, if they do have composite fillings and sealants, as it obviously isn’t possible to go back in time. 🙂
If his diet was good, this is what prevented the decay, not the sealants.
I’ve wondered about the danger of composites for awhile. It’s good to know now which ones are a problem and which ones are not.
Interesting.
So if you have existing fillings (I have the silver) and when I was young, they sealed my molars b/c they were groovy…should I leave them in place?
Also, can you heal where you have fillings and remineralize those teeth?
No you cannot heal a tooth that has been drilled.