title: Time Bomb from Within: Mercury Poisoning in Dentistry
author:  Dr. Stuart Scheckner 
description: Dr. Stuart Scheckner received both his bachelor of science (1960) and doctor of dental medicine (1964) degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Upon graduation, he served two years at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, as a captain at their dental clinic. In 1972 he moved with his family to Sarasota, Florida, where he opened a dental practice on beautiful Siesta Key. He was living his dream: a rewarding and successful dental practice, a loving wife and two healthy children, and a waterfront home. He was a respected member of the community and had many good friends and all the amenities of a good life that money could buy. Then it all began to change. What started subtly as some symptoms common with stress, evolved into a life-threatening ordeal, taking him on a roller-coaster ride through physical, mental, and emotional turmoil. There were times that he stood alone in his suffering, without any support, understanding, or hope of recovery. Yet, somehow, he pulled himself through it all. Dr. Scheckner's desire to find meaning to all that has happened to him over the past thirty years has driven him to speak out on what he truly believes is a national tragedy. His interests in medicine, nutrition, and health have guided him in his search for the truth about the effect of mercury in dentistry and in our environment. He has written many letters to legislators and the press about the danger of mercury in dentistry. He is published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy with a pediatric immunologist on mercury associated with autoimmune disorders. He has appeared on local television and radio talk shows. His story appeared several times in featured newspaper articles. He was an expert consultant to the Florida State Board of Dentistry and was an instructor for dental assistants. His goal in Time Bomb from Within is to question why something as insidious as mercury is still being approved fo
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  # The Disappearing Spoon
  
  
  ## Sam Kean
  
  
  ![](images/Art_logo.jpg)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # [INTRODUCTION](toc.xhtml#toc-introduction)
  
  
  ![image](images/Art_P003.jpg)
  
  
  As a child in the early 1980s, I tended to talk with things in my mouth—food,
  dentist’s tubes, balloons that would fly away,
  
  
  whatever—and if no one else was around, I’d talk anyway. This habit led to my
  fascination with the periodic table the first
  
  
  time I was left alone with a thermometer under my tongue. I came down with
  strep throat something like a dozen times in the
  
  
  second and third grades, and for days on end it would hurt to swallow. I
  didn’t mind staying home from school and medicating
  
  
  myself with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Being sick always gave me
  another chance to break an old-fashioned mercury
  
  
  thermometer, too.
  
  
  
  
  
  Lying there with the glass stick under my tongue, I would answer an imagined
  question out loud, and the thermometer would
  
  
  slip from my mouth and shatter on