Amalgam
BACKGROUND
Amalgam is the cheapest, easiest way to immediately
restore a tooth. Amalgams are mostly mercury not
silver. A slang name for mercury is quicksilver. In
a sense, silver fillings should rightly be called
quicksilver fillings.
There are several problems associated with silver
fillings. The most obvious is their unattractive
appearance. Esthetics aside, some physical
properties of amalgam make it less than ideal, as it
does not help bind a tooth together. Over time a
tooth can begin to crack and then fracture out from
under the amalgam. The amalgam doesn’t break, the
tooth beaks. Teeth are less likely to fracture if
they have a “bonded” restoration. An amalgam is not
a bonded restoration.
AMALGAM RECOMMENDATIONS
We recommend removal when the amalgam is defective,
decay is present, or the tooth is fracturing. We
recommend replacing amalgams with
CEREC restorations in most
cases. If it is not possible due to porcelain
fracture, we usually recommend gold. We recommend
waiting until the amalgam is defective or the tooth
shows signs of fracturing before amalgam removal,
keeping in mind that whenever an amalgam is changed
there is a chance of damage to the tooth.
If we tell you that an amalgam does not need
replacement and you still wish to have it replaced
understanding the potential risks, we will respect
your wishes.
AMALGAM AND HEALTH
There is no proof amalgam harms your health. There
is no scientific proof that amalgam removal will
improve your health (unless you are allergic to a
component of the amalgam, but amalgam allergy is
rare). The truth is no one knows, dentists continue
to argue amongst themselves (See
story from ABC News). The truth is there is only
“anecdotal evidence”; the truth is you must make
your own decision regarding the mercury in your
mouth.
We cannot recommend amalgam removal as a treatment
for multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue syndrome,
irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia or headaches.
We have seen no credible studies that support
removal.
We believe there may never be enough medical
evidence unearthed to ban amalgam for medical
reasons. The real pressure to curtail amalgam use
today is coming from environmental concerns and may
ultimately be a deciding factor in its ban.
AMALGAM AND THE ENVIRONMENT
While the health effects of mercury in amalgam is a
polarizing issue not unlike global warming, there is
near unanimous agreement that mercury in our water,
air and soil is not desirable. Mercury is not an
essential nutrient it’s a neurotoxin. Your personal
physician does not tell you to eat more sushi
because your mercury blood level is low. You should
want less mercury in your body. To keep it out of
the food chain, we need to get it out of the water,
air, and soil. Mercury in the environment comes from
many sources, smokestack emissions is commonly a
major culprit.
The mercury in amalgam gets into the environment two
major ways:
The waste water
line of your dental office.
The majority of the amalgam removed from mouths
finds its way into the waste water/sewage line of a
dental office. As far as The East Coast Dental Group
is concerned, a number of years back we took the
initiative and placed a special amalgam separator on
our office waste water line to recover mercury
before it enters the Hudson River. In 2008 it will
be mandatory for all general dentists in New York
State to do so .
The smokestack of
your crematorium.
If your dentist does not remove your amalgams, they
inevitably will wind up either
six feet under or up in smoke. The smoke is a more
imminent concern , especially for crematorium
employees. In the UK, they
have passed a law requiring crematorium
operators to place half million dollar filters on
their smokestacks. The UK estimates 16% of their
mercury pollution comes from cremated amalgams. Mary
Poppins may breathe a bit easier when the filters
are in place.
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