Depression & Suicide: What Dentists and Diabetics Have In Common

Here’s an excerpt from an essay I’m writing on the relationship between diabetic complications and toxic dentistry:

According to a leading dental trade magazine, Oral Health, dentists are three times more likely to commit suicide than other white collar workers. It states that emotional illness ranks #3 on the list of health problems dentists face. In the general population, emotional illness ranks #10.

Likewise, a study published in The Journal of Pyschosomatic Research concluded that people with type-1 diabetes “are at an increased risk for suicide.”

While there may be many diverse reasons for depression among dentists and diabetics, The Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine points to the silver elephant in the clinic: “…recent data indicates an accumulation of total mercury in the central nervous system of dentists. This is especially noticed in the pituitary, and is partly due to… the accumulation… caused by a person’s dental fillings. Build-up of inorganic mercury may lead to emotional changes and depressive disorders with a consequent increase in suicide attempts.”

So dentist’s pituitary glands appear to be congested with mercury vapor they were exposed to while filling teeth. Many of those filled teeth belonged to people with type-1 diabetes – who are prone to dental infections.

The pituitary gland, according to an article at hormones.org, secretes oxytocin. “Low oxytocin levels,” the articles states, “have also been linked to depression and depression disorders…”

And mercury just doesn’t interfere with oxytocin production. A 2014 issue of Neuroendocrinology Letters states that mercury inhibits “other [feel good] neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, and GABA” and ”may lead to depression, anxiety and other disorders.”

Better blood sugar control certainly has been shown to alleviate depression in people with type-1 diabetes. But, for many, a 5.0 A1C may not be enough. Toxins leeching from mercury fillings, root canals, bridges, dentures, crowns and cavitations may be the principle cause of the psychological turmoil common among those with type-1 diabetes.


Editor’s Note: I’ve released a lengthy article on dental toxicity and type-1 diabetes that I think is a must-read for anyone with T1D. Also, I highly recommend reading Dr. Hal Huggins’ It’s All in Your Head: The Link Between Mercury, Amalgams, and Illness available from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk.

About the Author: John C. A. Manley researches and writes about alternative treatments for type-1 diabetes and its many complications. His wife, Nicole, of 14 years (as of June 9) has had type-1 diabetes for nearly four decades. Together they have lowered her HgbA1c below 5.5%, regained thyroid function, increased kidney function and reversed gastroparesis.