London - Jameela Jamil has the dazzling smile that you’d expect of a television presenter and former model.
Yet the 29-year-old broadcaster is convinced her teeth - or rather, the dental work done on them - triggered a host of health problems that plagued her for nearly seven years.
‘From the age of 21, I would wake up in the morning with a puffy, swollen face feeling utterly hungover - even though I don’t drink,’ says Jameela, who has presented the Radio 1 Chart Show and programmes for Channel 4.
‘My head felt heavy and I was permanently exhausted. Occasionally, I would even faint. There were days when I’d arrive at work and the make-up artists would send me home because I just looked awful and felt terrible.’
After several months of this, she went to a private doctor who referred her for tests. Jameela thought she might have a serious disease such as lupus, an auto-immune condition which can cause inflammation and swelling in the joints and other parts of the body.
In fact, the tests suggested she had high levels of mercury. After other potential causes such as diet were ruled out, it was suggested the problem was down to the ten amalgam fillings she’d had as a child. So she spent £3,000 on having them all removed and replaced with white fillings.
Dental amalgam has been used for more than 150 years, and every year 12 million fillings made from it are given to patients in Britain.
Amalgam remains a standard material to use, especially on back teeth because it is particularly robust. It is made from a mixture of metals including silver, tin and copper. Liquid mercury is used to help mix these components together.
Breathing in extremely high concentrations of mercury can trigger bronchitis and pneumonia and affect the central nervous system, causing muscle tremors. Long-term exposure to high levels can affect kidneys.
But mercury poisoning is very rare, suggests Dr Prem Mahendra, a consultant haematologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. ‘In 27 years as a haematologist I have never been asked to test for mercury,’ he says.
Dentists agree that when fillings are being put in or removed, the mercury can release vapour. This is absorbed into the bloodstream in the lungs and then taken to the kidneys to be passed out harmlessly in the urine.
But the amounts taken in from fillings is ‘minuscule’, says Salford dentist Dr Ben Atkins.
Indeed, a review by the EU Commission’s Scientific Committee in 2008 concluded there was no risk from amalgam, says Professor Damien Walmsley, the British Dental Association’s scientific adviser.
Amalgam is ‘strong, durable and adaptable’ and there is ‘no evidence to suggest these fillings are anything other than safe to use’, adds StJohn Crean, professor of medicine in dentistry and an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at the University of Central Lancashire.
It is true that mercury can sometimes cause sensitivity and soreness in teeth - 5 percent of the population react to contact with amalgams in this way - but this poses no risk to health, adds Professor Walmsley.
And yet dental amalgam is banned in countries such as Sweden and Norway, because of patient concern about the risk. Finland and Japan have restrictions on its use, with a view to phasing it out.
This follows research linking mercury to certain diseases. A 2012 review of 106 studies published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease suggested mercury from amalgams could be a contributing factor to the condition.
But fillings aren’t the only source of mercury. It can get into the blood through food - nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces, though the Food Standards Agency says this isn’t a concern for most people.
However, some fish and shellfish contain higher levels of mercury that could harm an unborn baby or young child’s developing nervous system. That’s why young children and women planning to have a baby or who are already pregnant or breastfeeding are advised to avoid fish that can have higher levels of mercury, such as shark, swordfish and marlin.
Pregnant women are advised to limit their tuna to no more than two steaks or four medium-sized cans a week.
But Jameela doesn’t eat fish, so knew the mercury levels couldn’t be due to her diet. She’s allergic to peanuts, shellfish and dairy foods and at 12 was diagnosed with coeliac disease - a condition which causes an adverse reaction to gluten, found in wheat, barley and rye.
Following blood tests, it was discovered that she had high mercury levels. With nothing else to account for these raised levels, her fillings were pinpointed as the cause.
‘All I could think of was I had to get rid of them,’ says Jameela.
But while she expected her symptoms to immediately subside once her fillings were removed, they continued to affect her over the next few years.
‘I hated the fatigue, the headaches, the fact I should have been fit and healthy but felt rotten all the time,’ Jameela says.
‘I read up on this and discovered that not only does it take time for mercury levels to drop, but vapour can be released from the mercury when the fillings are removed and leak into the system.
‘I think that the mercury was affecting my immune and digestive system.’
Dentist Dr Atkins has spoken to many patients who have wanted to have their silver fillings removed because they’re concerned about the potential health issues.
But he warns that removing amalgams can do more harm than good as more vapour can be inhaled into the system by doing this.
‘Aside from the fact there is no evidence to suggest amalgams are anything other than safe, every time a dentist drills a tooth, they remove a little dental tissue. So you are essentially damaging the tooth,’ he says.
Still struggling, Jameela saw a nutritionist who recommended drinking solutions made from clay and algae chlorella three times a day. These apparently bind to mercury and help remove it. She did this for two years, and tried various diets to tackle the ‘inflammation’ linked to the mercury that was making her ill.
‘For my 25th birthday, my flatmate gave me a piece of melon with a candle in it - cake was out of the question,’ she says. ‘It took about a year before I started to feel better. It’s all had a massive impact on my life.’
However, Anton Emmanuel, consultant gastroenterologist at University College Hospital, London, is not convinced mercury could affect digestion in this way.
‘You would have to be exposed to massive overdoses of mercury for the gut to be affected,’ he says. ‘Not in the level or forms that you get with mercury fillings.
‘In fact, I see patients whose gut symptoms, ironically, seem to be caused by the stress and anxiety of thinking that it is their mercury fillings which are causing stomach problems, when there is no physical sign of any gut disorders.’
But Jameela remains convinced that the mercury was the cause of her problems. ‘There is so much we don’t know about amalgam fillings. I know I feel much better now,’ she says.
Private clinics offer mercury testing. But Dr Mahendra says anyone thinking of having this done should check that the clinic’s laboratories have clinical pathology accreditation (CPA) to ensure that the tests are carried out properly.
Daily Mail