Tag : heavy metals

[This is a blog on my experiences travelling to and at American BioDental, a Mexican dental clinic specializing in holistic dentistry and alternative treatments for cancer, such as IV Vitamin C.]

While researching on treatment tactics for the breast lesion I was dealing with in 2012 and 2013, I found dental revision being recommended over and over as a foundation-level plank in the overall platform for beating cancer. Many self-directed cancer treatment sites even go so far as to say it may be enough in itself to clean up the dental environment to see big improvements, so my search was on!

Who knew this would be my view when I got there?

When looking around for a dentist to clean up the remaining mercury mess in my mouth, I sought four things:

After much research and talking to various people, I chose American BioDental Clinic, located in Tijuana, Mexico. They hit favorable notes for all four of my requirements – whenever I called them, they happily explained everything and answered all my questions, including border-crossing options and then some. They specialize in holistic dentistry, including the removal of mercury, and I’d been in touch with several fellow survivors who’d gone there and reported success.

When I visited their website, I saw very reasonable pricing, and even more importantly, transparent and right out there for all to see. No having to call around and hear about payment plans that would have me in hock for years to come in the Great American Transfer of Wealth for what should be reasonably priced healthcare.

When I got to the Clinic, I saw that yes, their facilities were top-notch and yes, they used the best materials on the market for their patients – even encouraging them to get a biocompatibility test if they were dealing with cancer (my results).

After the initial intake and panoramic x-ray, I was told I had 23 teeth that needed work, including new fillings, replacement fillings, several inlays and a surgical mercury tattoo removal. Not being too much of a glutton for punishment, I arranged the work to be done in two parts – later that day, the right side of my mouth, top and bottom. Several weeks later, the left side. And then a third, very short visit for a quick follow-up on one problem tooth the dentists at the clinic saved with their excellent work, but told me to keep an eye on.

While under the drill, I also had Vitamin C IV drips – 50 grams each time – well-known to be extremely helpful for the immune system and a great treatment for cancer. Additionally, IV Vitamin C has the benefit of keeping re-exposure to heavy metals to a minimum while dental work is being done.

In my case, there were a lot of mercury tattoos left from half-assed amalgam removals not done safely or completely (but very expensively!) in the US back in 2008. After those, I’d thought – I’d hoped – that my problems were over. But they weren’t, as evidenced by ongoing cancerous lesions on my skin and left breast. Since there was still mercury residue in the form of grey-colored areas on my teeth and gums, along with loose fillings and cracks, the effects were still playing out in my system to my detriment.

Dental work and detoxes were in order, as soon as possible and within a reasonable budget, because it seems patients in the US are out of luck in getting mercury-related dental revisions paid for by the system that visited them upon us all. It would be akin to an admission that there was a problem, which I can only guess is a real no-no. It was only fitting that I took my business elsewhere.

So, on to the nitty gritty details about my trip(s) down under the USA’s southern border…

Crossing the Mexican border. I park and walk across, and for this, I take the 805 south to San Ysidro – the “LAST US EXIT” – the signs are very clear and say just that. At the end of the off-ramp, hang a right, go down the little hill, and what I usually do at the first intersection is make a right, then another quick right straight into a pay-as-you-go parking lot (cost, as of this writing: $7 per day). Park, and then you can either walk to the border crossing, or pay for one of the many rickshaws, etc., that come around looking to help out (plenty). I just walk it, it is not that far, and I don’t usually have more than a backpack.

Walking out of the parking lot toward the Mexican flag…which is right under the American flag in my pic…

 

Once out of the lot, cross the street and hang a left to the intersection (pictured below), where you’ll cross the street using the crosswalk (shown below). After crossing, go straight…

You’ll come to the pedestrian bridge that takes you back over the 805. You’ll see other people going where you want to go, so just follow them over the highway 🙂

You’ll come to a set of stairs, and at the bottom, go to the right and walk toward the train station area:

You’ll also see busses and lots of people, taxis and the like. The walkway to Mexico goes in between two buildings, then behind them and to the right. There’ll be plenty of others walking this route, and you’ll see this:

…and then you’ll see this…

…and you’ll realize that all the jokes are true: There really is a revolving door between Mexico and the US, lol! Two, in fact…

The revolving doors are the way to the “customs” area – and I put this in quotes, because it’s pretty basic – it is just a couple of revolving doors under the “MEXICO” sign (see the image above) that lead you into a small room where (sometimes) your bags are checked and (most of the time) you will see a member or two of the Mexican military standing guard as you exit.

After you exit customs, you’ll cross over the same highway in the other direction – and be warned, the path is just as circuitous as on the American side – to the taxi cab area. Per my previous advice, follow the crowd, they will lead you well. And note one of the first things you see on the Mexican side is a big pharmacy. Supply and demand. Go figure.

The taxi ride to the Grand Hotel Tijuana, where I usually stay when I have an appointment at American BioDental, is around $7 – 10, and takes around 10 minutes.

At the Grand Hotel Tijuana. This is a veeeerrrry niiiiiice hotel! You’ll pay the same for a shithole in LA, and with that, you’ll start to learn why over a million Americans call Mexico home, probably many of them “illegally.” The rooms are very nice and clean, have great bathrooms, and if you’re on one of the upper floors, you’ll have a fantastic view to boot. They have a very nutritious morning buffet, with complete proteins like eggs, chicken, beef, etc. You will not starve.

The water. Okay, had to get to this, and I’ll say this first: I drank the water freely on my first visit, and a few days later, had the most thorough and inexpensive full-body detox I’ve ever had. Otherwise known as Montezuma’s Revenge. Not very pleasant, but all-inclusive to a fault. The next few times I went, I was more careful, and I took a strong probiotic called Primal Defense with me. I think Saccharomyces Boullardi would also work well, just make sure to take enough of it. There is filtered water in the rooms, as pictured below:

But…you know how it goes: Somehow, something always goes awry. The tea water isn’t quite boiled long enough to kill everything. Or, you brush your teeth and forget to use the filtered water. So I’m careful, and at restaurants, I usually order a mineral water called Ciel – it is canned and entirely (…uhhh, at least as far as canned drinks go) safe:

Going back to the US (do we have to?). One of the Alessandros, aka either American BioDental’s head doctor or his son, usually drives me and a few others back across the border. They usually leave once or twice per day, and this is VERY preferable to walking back across, as they have frequent crosser permits and it’s usually pretty painless. Take my word for it: Crossing into Mexico is a piece of cake. Crossing back into the US is an overblown exercise in paranoia. Go, and you’ll see for yourself.

Yours in Good Health,

Alison

[This blog details heavy metal biocompatibility testing as regards dental materials placed in the body long term.]

In 2008, I had the last of my dental mercury fillings removed, which promptly put me back in intimate touch with my old standby, Big C. The connection between heavy metals and cancer is one I know very well, though it is also one that the mainstream medical system likes to say doesn’t exist, thus my recent excursion into finding and taking a blood serum test that told me whether or not I was mercury reactive based on scientific analysis.

The dental work itself was sloppy – leaving several mercury tattoos and a cracked tooth – and not following the recommended Huggins protocol for safe removal of heavy metals for me saw new melanomas cropping up over 2009, 10, 11 and 12, all capped off by the crowning event of late: a left breast cancer lesion.

As usual, I’m in it to win it. And along the way, gather as much proof along the way as I can, first for me and secondly for all those naysayers who think I’m off my nut for “believing” in heavy metals toxicity. It is not a question of belief, it is a question of testing to see if I’m reactive, how much toxicity is in my system, and then figuring out what to do about it.

While dealing with my left breast nipple lesion in 2012, I read some very interesting things about how teeth are connected to specific organs and systems in the body via meridians, as in Chinese medicine. No real surprise to me that the left breast corresponded tooth-wise with the upper left first molar, where, interestingly enough, a very noticeable mercury tattoo still lived on the tooth and gumline (see the dead set sexy pic of the interior of my mouth above where you’ll notice the grey-tinged areas above and on the tooth of concern). When I was a kid, this tooth developed a full-on hole on its inner surface on the gumline, which was filled by…drum roll, please…silver-mercury amalgam. As the American Dental Association declares on its website:

Dental amalgam is considered a safe, affordable and durable material that has been used to restore the teeth of more than 100 million Americans. It contains a mixture of metals such as silver, copper and tin, in addition to mercury, which binds these components into a hard, stable and safe substance. Dental amalgam has been studied and reviewed extensively, and has established a record of safety and effectiveness. 

The FDI World Dental Federation and the World Health Organization concluded in a 1997 consensus statementⁱ: “No controlled studies have been published demonstrating systemic adverse effects from amalgam restorations.” Another conclusion of the report stated that, aside from rare instances of local side effects of allergic reactions, “the small amount of mercury released from amalgam restorations, especially during placement and removal, has not been shown to cause any … adverse health effects.” 

[Source: American Dental Association]

My response? My ASS. 

And I’ll give you even more than that: a material safety data sheet on mercury (and here’s one on dental amalgam alloy). It took about 30 seconds on a wireless internet connection to find all these, so please read them for yourself and do your own research as well to see where your opinion falls on the ADA’s statement.

I’ve heard plenty of “it’s all in yer head, Sweetie” – enough for me to get into the habit of questioning everything that’s ever been said to me by a mainstream medical practitioner. In my experience, suggesting to a mercury-sensitive individual that mercury or other toxins aren’t possible culprits in chronic diseases (such as cancer) is like telling a peanut-allergic individual to get over it and have a Reese’s.

As well, the ADA hasn’t studied yours truly, and as someone who is sensitive to mercury (tested, yes) and who seems to have no problem retaining too much of it in my tissues (tested again – and a genetic predisposition, from what I’ve read regarding certain genotypes not being able to excrete metals efficiently), I have to ask: Who the hell paid the ADA to state such things?

Given my experience with insurance companies that refused to cover mercury removal (otherwise they’d get found out and have to do a whole lotta freebie dental revisions, I suppose), my trust in the ADA regarding the mercury toxicity issue doesn’t even register. Their interests and my interests are divergent – ne’er shall their paths cross – and science corrupted by money isn’t really science, and all that.

I first discovered there was a blood serum biocompatibility test for heavy metals in the form of dental materials when I started talking with the American Bio Dental Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico. They encouraged all their patients dealing with cancer to have one, and for me, it was a no-brainer as I’m always after proof of what is actually going on…not what someone “thinks” just by looking at me, aka the Bill Frist “diagnosis.” Only when I see the real deal picture can the action I take be accurate and effective.

The test recommended to me was the Biocompatibility Test Kit from BioComp Labortories in Colorado Springs, Colorado in the US of A, which American Bio Dental forwarded directly to me previous to my initial scheduled dental revision in Tijuana. The picture behind this blog post (toggle the content away and back by clicking the round button with the + or – sign in it) shows what the test kit’s box looks like, including the test number (UN3373) along with the lab’s address and simple instructions.

Contents of the test kit include paper work (a Compatibility Report Order Form, Lab Instructions, Patient Instructions, FAQs and a Request for Client Serum Sample). In addition, there is a styrofoam container with a serum tube, outer tube and two small freezer packs that must be frozen for serum shipment to the lab for testing.

After fasting overnight per the instructions, I took the kit first to LabCorps, which had this test in their system under the instructions “Do NOT Use – Pending” and could not do the blood draw. Then it was on to Quest Diagnostics, who happily did the test per the instructions. After the blood draw and my payment, Quest sent my kit directly to BioComp Labs for the analysis.

The total cost for this was as follows:

$350 Serum Biocompatibility Test (including shipping & compatibility report)

$41.80 Blood draw at Quest Diagnostics:

$391.80 – Grand Total (and note that this test was not covered by insurance – nor was I – at the time it was done in mid-November, 2013)

When I got the results back from BioComp’s Blood Serum Compatibility Test, I was not at all surprised. This is further validation for what several top-notch holistic medical pros claimed was a major factor in the health problems I’ve had.

Page 1 from BioComp Labs’ report (see above image) contained a listing of dozens of metals used in various dental materials, separated by reactivity level in me as the subject tested via blood serum analysis.

As you can see for yourself above, in the Highly Reactive category was my old pal mercury and a few other heavy metallic malcontents, including nickel (petro fumes, cigarette smoke, cookware, etc.), aluminum (cans, foil, cookware, etc.), lithium, cadmium, copper…and even zinc and zinc acetate.

Of interest was bismuth, that ingredient in Pepto-Bismol (or Pink Bismuth if you’re going generic) that also showed up in the Highly Reactive category. I’m not sure what the full interpretation of this is, because Pepto-Bismol seems to work just fine for me (though I rarely use it, so that may be telling).

Silver and gold turned up in the Least Reactive category (of course, I’ve always had an affinity for those :-)). So did Titanium and Zinc oxides (used in sunscreens and other products), Stannous Flouride (toothpastes) and plenty of other metals.

This testing report also contains dozens more pages of thousands of dental materials, categorized as Highly, Moderately or Least Reactive. The American Bio Dental Clinic in Tijuana informed me they use a product called Diamond Crown for composites, fillings and inlays (most of the work I’ve had done by them), and this showed up in my report as being among the Least Reactive. That is good news! Anything that is permanently fixed in my mouth had better fall into that category, otherwise it’s yet another possible cause for the cancer cup to runeth over.

This brings me to some commentary on the dental industry as a whole, speaking from the experience of years spent down the hole on mercury toxicity and other issues that could have easily been prevented had my childhood dentist simply tested me for compatibility with dental mercury amalgam. The fact that at least a dozen amalgams were placed in my mouth without my knowing the possible effects – or even being given a choice in the matter – illustrates everything that is wrong with the mainstream medical system and its largely one size fits all mentality.

Considering that Romney-Obamacare doesn’t yet include this type of biocompatibility test as part of a larger preventative scheme, it needs revision – and soon. Having read that we are now exposed to more toxins in 15 minutes than our grandparents were over their whole lives makes lowering the body’s burden even more critical than ever.

Yours in good health,

Alison

PS – BioComp Laboratories can be found via www.biocomplaboratories.com and the American Bio Dental Clinic by pointing to www.americanbiodental.com. Ain’t research fun? Cheers…

[Contents of this post are for educational purposes only and all that jazz.]