Increased mercury release from dental amalgam restorations after exposure to electromagnetic fields as a potential hazard for hypersensitive people and pregnant women.
Mercury release from dental amalgam fillings.
Advantages of mercury-free fillings
Environment-friendly
Composites and glass ionomers are mercury-free, and there is no evidence of environmental toxicity.
Preserve teeth
The placement of mercury-free fillings allows for less tooth destruction, which preserves more natural tooth structure. Composites fillings can also strengthen and enhance the biomechanics of the restored tooth. As a result, the tooth itself can survive longer.
Easier to Repair
Composite fillings are easier to repair than composites – which can save you both tooth structure and money.
Durable: Recent studies show that properly placed composite fillings can last just as long as- or even longer than – amalgam fillings.
Prevent caries
Glass ionomers, used in atraumatic restorative treatment (ART), have proven valuable in certain clinical situations where they can be more accessible and less expensive than amalgam (for example, in communities without electricity).
User-friendly
All properly trained dentists can place mercury-free fillings in any tooth requiring a filling. If a dentist tells you he or she has to use amalgam because it is too hard to use a mercury-free filling in your tooth, find a more competent dentist!
Mercury toxicity and dental amalgam
“There is adequate evidence that dental amalgam restorations, during and after placement, results in the release of Hg into the patient’s body. Whether the Hg released from amalgam is due to placement procedures, surface abrasion, or later corrosion breakdown, there is evidence that a low level Hg release continues for years. It is generally agreed that if amalgam was introduced today as a restorative material, they would never pass F.D.A. approval. With new and more accurate techniques of measuring Hg levels, especially in tissue and blood, additional studies are necessary to relate blood-Hg levels with dental amalgam restorations. Studies must relate existing restorations as well as the placement of new restorations to body-Hg levels. It is possible that we have accepted a potentially dangerous material as being safe. “
If you need a new filling, play it safe and go with composite.
“I find it very ironic that regulatory agencies require that the materials that make up an amalgam filling, such as mercury, silver, zinc, copper and tin, must be placed in a hazardous waste container when enters the dental office. The old amalgam filling pieces that are removed from a tooth must also be placed in an hazardous waste container. Yet there is no regulation of an amalgam filling when it’s placed in a tooth! Isn’t it logical that because amalgam material is in the tooth that it also makes the tooth a hazardous waste container.
It’s a scientific fact that toxic mercury vapor is continually being released from amalgam fillings. 80% of it enters the body and accumulates in it. This accumulation occurs because overtime the body loses its effectiveness at removing mercury and is less and less effective at doing so. If mercury is stored in your body it also makes it a hazardous waste container. So don’t be fooled by the ADA and those who support its position on mercury amalgam fillings. Mercury is continuously released from amalgam fillings and that alone makes them a health hazard. You shouldn’t be the same house with mercury vapor, let alone having it being released from your fillings.” Dr Tom Mcguire
