As Director of TALKInternational.com, I would like to welcome you to our revised and updated web site. My name is Dr. James Rota, and I have been a practicing dentist in Los Angeles, California, and educator for the last 44 years. I am privileged to accept this opportunity to facilitate this website and will endeavor to carry on the objectives of Wayne Obie, the originator of TALKInternational.com. For the past 8 years, Wayne has unselfishly - and, yes - courageously created an opportunity for individuals from around the world to share their studies, experiences, concerns and responses regarding the health-destroying toxins presently being identified in our environment.

The focus of TALKInternational.com has been on the toxins originating from “the silver amalgam filling” which, in addition to silver, tin, copper, and zinc, contains 50% of the second most deadly metal on this planet, mercury. These fillings are common and are being implanted in the mouths of children and adults all over the world today.

TALKInternational.com has reached out internationally, through this marvelous new networking media – the internet - and heard from patients, dentists, physicians, researchers, clinicians, investigators, media, and the curious. Thousands around the world have shared their personal views, practices, and experiences with the controversial mercury/amalgam filling, described by Dr. Alfred Stock, as “a terrible sin against humanity.”

My First Lecture . . .

After graduating from Loyola Dental School in Chicago in 1961, I served two years in the Navy Dental Corp, which included an intern/research project on mercury alternative fillings with Dr. Robert Wolcott. I accepted a position as Assistant Professor on the staff of the newly formed UCLA Dental School.

One of my first assignments as a young Assistant Professor was to present to the students their first lecture on what we called the “amalgam” dental filling. I was very apprehensive about this first lecture. Some of the students in the dental class were older than I and had degrees in various fields; therefore, I wanted to be prepared.

Off to the UCLA Bio-Med library I went. I gathered all the books on the “amalgam” filling I could find. Well, after days of researching the literature, I was surprised and troubled with the new knowledge that I obtained. I was concerned, and somewhat embarrassed about why I was not aware of the degree of toxicity of mercury and all of its various combinations. I was finding that there had been a history of concern about the use of mercury in dental fillings. How could I have missed this? I did not remember ever hearing about this concern in dental school.

We were taught that when you mix 50% of elemental mercury with silver, zinc, tin, copper, and implant it in a tooth, a hard, durable, inert filling resulted. Well, science now has informed us through the laws of entropy, that nothing is stable, and the mercury/silver amalgam filling is anything but stable. However, dentistry has been using it for the last 150 years.  Therefore, I passed on this fallacy.
(Click here to view my actual 1961 lecture notes.)

It was then, in preparation for my first lecture on the “silver/amalgam” filling to the first dental class at UCLA, that I first became suspicious as to the possible harmful effect the filling may have on the human body.

We now know that the dental mercury/silver amalgam filling is “chemically & electrically active.” Science has proven that every time we eat, drink, or breathe, we may be absorbing disturbing releases of decomposing, toxic particles - mercury included. This chronic, toxic accumulation is being shown to have serious, long-term consequences on our immune system, resulting in a variety of disease and conditions. I know this firsthand, as I suffered from mercury toxicity for years. I had been treating the symptoms without knowing the cause. (I will share my complete story along with many of my patients’ stories in future editions.)

Why TALKInternational.com . . . Why Now . . .

In my first 15 years of my dental career, I placed thousands of mercury amalgam fillings. I have spent the last 30 years removing as many amalgams. In the past year, I decided to retire from my restorative practice and devote my remaining years sharing my personal experiences with mercury toxicity and the dental filling. TalkInternational.com will allow me to continue to alert my peers and the public by sharing the information contained in this site, so the public may “Be Informed” before they “Consent” to the mercury silver filling.

In the 1800s, when it was considered malpractice to use mercury in fillings, there were no cost-effective options, so using the amalgam seemed to be a solution to outbreaks of dental decay in a society that could not afford the gold filling options. There were no composites as alternatives.

Today, there are no excuses to still use mercury in the fillings of our children. No, composites are not without toxic and cost considerations. There is no filling that is perfect, yet. But we are comparing mercury - the second deadliest toxin pulled from deep within our planet - to a plastic-like filling that shares the same compromise as drinking water from plastic bottles. Yes, there always appears to be restorative risks. There is no perfectly safe solution other than a proactive one. However, Mercury should not be considered to be an alternative.

Objectives for TALKInternational.com

We plan to present interviews with health providers and researchers who are responding to this issue by providing information and services that will aid those that are experiencing the effects of toxins in our environment.

TALKInternational.com will interview researchers that are studying the many sides of the mercury toxicity issue. We will talk to the Dental-Medical Teams that are being established all around the world to respond to the Detoxification Revolution.

We are learning more and more about the insidious nature of mercury toxicity and its related symptoms that vary from patient to patient. We are finding out what we can do to detoxify ourselves from the life-robbing toxins that are part of day-to-day experiences. What can we do? Where do we look for help? How can we be sure that we can trust that we will receive the appropriate treatment?

This is where TALKInternational.com can play a vital role, as it is our objective to bring together those who have studied the issues and have been willing to reappraise their treatment modalities and adopt those protocols that have been internationally accepted. We will endeavor to feature those articles that address the latest news and practices that have been successful in dealing with this health crisis.

It is our objective to uncover the truth by bringing together the ailing patients, the scientists, the health practitioner, people who want to find the truth, and people who are willing to do something about it.

We welcome suggestions, ideas, articles, links, etc. As we have redesigned the site, we will be rebuilding the research and article database and adding new features. In the near future, we will have our own forum and newsletters. We also are developing an internet radio show devoted to the issues presented on TALKInternational.com.

I am excited about this opportunity to give back to the community that brought me health and the honor of service. I am also proud to support those dentists that responded early and developed study groups; groups that utilize scientific information to develop protocols that respond to the crisis; groups that developed into the International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology (IAOMT), Academy of Biological Dentistry & Medicine, and The Holistic Dental Association are thinking outside the box and making great strides in self education and public communication.

I truly see that the dental profession is made of a group of sincere, hard working, health care providers, often underappreciated as to the complexity and toxicity of their task. Today, there are dentists still using mercury fillings, who sincerely feel they are doing the best for their patients; after all, that is what they were taught.

But, slowly, they are now responding to the vast amount of information that is accumulating. These dentists, who are trained to respond to the scientific evidence, are reappraising their protocols and are being trained to deal appropriate with this issue. This will eventually lead to the discontinued use of the dental mercury-silver filling. Help us all by introducing this site to your dentist and your friends. Together, we can make a big difference.

Sincerely,

James E. Rota, DDS