Welcome to Palmer Distinctive Dentistry

The following segment is sponsored by Palmer Distinctive Dentistry.

Speaker 1: Welcome back. His research on the safe removal of mercury fillings is referenced by dental professionals nationwide. Dr. John Palmer from Palmer Distinctive Dentistry is here with us this morning. Thanks so much for being here.

Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1: First thing, our topic today is removing mercury fillings safely, but first talk to us a little bit about your background and your practice there at Palmer Distinctive Dentistry.

Speaker 2: Well, I have a holistic dental practice. I didn't always have one. I was trained down in Charleston, like all the other dentists. Got out, started practicing, and within 10 to 15 years, I developed mercury poisoning. So from having to deal with those medical issues and medical diagnosis and treatment, I found out there were some things about dentistry that, when I was taught, weren't quite true. And one of those is that the mercury in our fillings is dangerous to the dentist, the patient, the assistants, and everybody involved with them.

Speaker 1: And removing that mercury is a big part of what you do, but for people who don't know about holistic dentistry, talk to us about that philosophy.

Speaker 2: Well, holistic dentistry has a philosophy that what we do put in our mouths can affect health and other parts of the body. So we ought to try not to put things, toxic substances, in our bodies, especially in our mouths, where they're going to be close to our brains and those kind of things. So we use materials which are more biocompatible. We look at dental infections that can affect parts of the body, and we try to clean up those infections, because it's toxins, it's bacteria and viruses that cause disease and stress. So those three things that will make us sick.

Speaker 1: And you've been practicing mercury-free since 1995. Tell us about your research.

Speaker 2: Well, in 1995, I went to a conference that showed us how bad mercury fillings were for just doing the teeth. And then I found an organization called the International Academy of Toxicology, and I joined that, and they taught me how bad it was for us. I remember mercury is the second most poisonous element to man. And now, we've done some research. I've done some research, and I brought a copy of a paper we just had published. I did this with Dr. David Warwick, and the late Dr. Matt Young in Hendersonville, and Robin Warwick, David's daughter. So we published this paper, looking at, in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology. We titled it, Mercury Vapor Volatilization from Particulate Generated from Dental Amalgam Removal with a High-Speed Dental Drill, a Significant Source of Exposure. That's a long title and a big mouthful of words, so I'm going to try to keep it simplified.

Speaker 1: Yeah, what's that mean to the rest of us?

Speaker 2: What that means to the rest of it is when you are exposed in the dental chair of getting your mercury filling replaced, you are being exposed to a high concentration of mercury particulate and vapor. And if you're not protected, and everybody in the room's not protected, you're going to take that particulate home with you. So we looked at just what was the particulate that was just on the head of the dental drill after doing these procedures. And we did 21 samples, and they varied from taking 6 fillings out to 8, 9 fillings out. And the average amount of mercury particulate, just on the head of a handpiece, which is a very small surface, was 2,613 micrograms. What's a microgram? A microgram seems like a small amount, but when you're talking about mercury, it's a large amount. And that microgram, of course, puts off vapor. So you're exposed to that vapor.

Speaker 1: And you were an expert in the removal of this. Walk us through your process for the removal of the mercury filling, something you do very often.

Speaker 2: Yes, we do that a lot for people. But we're very conscious about protecting the patient and everybody involved. My team members, the dentist doing it. We wear, the dentist and the team member, we actually wear the biohazard suits that you see. Now that they're dealing with the viruses, the belovirus or whatever, we have that same suit. And we wear a respirator mask so that when we're taking this out, we're not breathing that room air. We have extra equipment in the room. As you can see, you can hardly see the patient. That's called a rubber dam, which keeps the particulate from going down the patient's throat and from breathing it. We have large suction devices in the room. We have constant monitors and filters that clean the air in the office all day long. Because from another study we did, we know that that particulate, even with all this equipment we use, ends up on the patient's clothes, on the assistant's clothes, on the dentist's clothes, and it accumulates over the day. So that's why we went to wearing all this protective stuff for our team members.

Speaker 1: So you seal it all off. Meanwhile, holistic dental care extends beyond preventing, diagnosing, and treating dental diseases. You really end up getting to know your patients as people.

Speaker 2: We really do, and we see some amazing things. When I got into dentistry and decided not to do medicine, it was because I didn't want to see sick people. But now I see people who have chronic illnesses, regular medicine kind of thinks, no, we can't help you, and we see cleaning up their mouth, removing their toxins, they get better. So it's very, very rewarding and satisfying to see those patients.

Speaker 1: It's all connected. Anything else you want people to know about the way you practice dentistry and what makes it special at Palmer?

Speaker 2: Well, I'm not saying your dentist is a bad dentist that doesn't take all these precautions. I would like to say that taking those precautions, we still get high levels. That's why we have to do all that protection. But it's just your dentist hasn't been taught, and he just doesn't know what he doesn't know. I teach this to other dentists. I'm willing to teach it to anybody. So if your dentist would like to call me, I can teach him in an hour how to do this.

Speaker 1: Something you're certainly passionate about, and I think that resonates with people.You can experience the difference, too. Palmer Distinctive Dentistry is located at 134 Milestone Way. You can call 332-4113 to schedule your visit. And I know you offer revolutionary one-visit crowns, cosmetic dentistry options, as well as TMJ and headache therapy. So a lot of reasons people want to get to know you. We love to have them.

Speaker 2: Love to help them.

Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for being here, Dr. Palmer. We'll look forward to having you soon, and we'll send it back to you in the studio.