Hal Huggins

Hal Alan Huggins (1937 – November 29, 2014) was an American alternative dentistry advocate and campaigner against the use of dental amalgam fillings and other dental therapies that he believed to be unsafe. Huggins began to promote his ideas in the 1970s and played a major role in generating controversy over the use of amalgam. Huggins's license to practice dentistry was revoked in 1996 after a panel found him guilty of gross negligence. Many of Huggins' health claims have been criticized as pseudoscientific and quackery. Huggins claimed in his books that the center's profits funded research and free care. The center was closed in September 1995 after a series of lawsuits against Huggins alleging negligence and fraud. TIME reported that despite Huggins's difficulties, some patients continued to swear by his treatments; former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay had his fillings removed by Huggins in 1991 and reported resolution of an "unexplained numbness" as a result.

In 1996, a Colorado state judge recommended that Huggins's dental license be revoked, citing his use of "'deceptive yet seductive advertising' to trick chronically ill patients into thinking that the true cause of their illness was mercury." Huggins's license was subsequently revoked by the Colorado State Board of Dental Examiners for gross negligence and the use of unnecessary and unproven procedures. TIME reported the judge's conclusion that Huggins "diagnosed 'mercury toxicity' in all his patients, including some without amalgam fillings." His criticisms of dental amalgam were featured on 60 Minutes.

Huggins died on November 29, 2014, at the age of 77.

Research and beliefs

Dental

Huggins convened a conference on the biocompatibility of dental materials at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, with the assistance of a foundation called the Toxic Element Research Foundation that, according to Time magazine, is used by Huggins to promote his views. The participants unanimously signed a statement urging that amalgam fillings be banned immediately.

In a paper published in Alternative Medicine Review in 1998, Huggins claimed that changes in cerebrospinal fluid that are typical for multiple sclerosis remitted after the removal of amalgam fillings and root canals. Huggins claimed that dental care according to his understanding of dentistry has allowed wheelchair-using patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis to walk unassisted within weeks. Another study found that although there was a geographical relationship between dental caries and multiple sclerosis, the use of dental amalgam was not associated with this disease.

Huggins's criticisms of dental care were not limited to amalgam fillings; he was also opposed to root canals that he alleges can cause focal infections and illness,

Diet

Huggins was influenced by the dietary ideas of Melvin E. Page and promoted the pseudoscientific concept known as "balancing body chemistry". He recommended a low-carbohydrate high-protein diet. In 1975, the American Dental Association's Council on Dental Research stated "there is little or no evidence to support the broad claims of the Hal Huggins diet."

Huggins opposed the pasteurization of milk, based on his claim that neither animals or humans can assimilate calcium from it.

Selected publications

Why Raise Ugly Kids?: How You Can Fulfill Your Child's Health and Happiness Potential (1981) It's All in Your Head: The Link Between Mercury Amalgams and Illness (1993) Uninformed Consent : The Hidden Dangers in Dental Care (1999, with Thomas E. Levy) Solving the MS Mystery: Help, Hope and Recovery (2002) Your Goose Isn't Cooked... Yet! (2002) Who Makes Your Hormones Hum??? (2004) It's Right Under Your Nose (2005)