The use of mercury filling material goes back 150 years. It's doubtful that if submitted for use today, it would be allowed. Mercury is a hazardous liquid metal. It has a silver color and was used in thermometers years ago. The phrase mad as a hatter comes from English hatters who cleaned hats with mercury went mad. Dentists call this restoration material amalgam. Patients call it a silver filling, however, there is more mercury than silver in this material. It seems logical that if you are given the choice, you would not place mercury in your body. However, because most dentists were trained in this technique, a dental patient is most likely to get an amalgam
Debate! That's what dentists are doing. Is it safe? That subject is controversial and sparks emotion responses, especially from older dentists. If a mercury filling is found to be unsafe, that would reflect badly upon what dentists have been doing for over a century so there is strong resistance to changing. In the later 80s, a study was done by a Canadian dentist using the material. The dentist placed mercury fillings in a number of sheep and left many sheep without any restorations. After several months the dentist sacrificed the sheep and did autopsies to see if the material leaked mercury into the sheep bodies. The mercury did leak into the sheep bodies.
When you think about the positives and negatives, you are often driven to refuse a mercury filling. It has a silver color and is certainly not natural looking. Because it is made of metal, the material transmits hot and cold more easily than a white filling. The material has mercury in it and there are in fact countries that have outlawed its use. White fillings have no mercury. However, metal lasts much longer than a white filling. It also is durable and can put up with a great deal of stress.
How do you know if your mercury filling material is effecting your body? That is a very controversial subject that has resulted in severe attack and caused at least one dentist that I know to lose his license. The general consensus among dentists is that you should not remove your old fillings . Unfortunately, there are not scientific tests to test if you have mercury poisoning from an amalgam filling.
There have been reports that mercury is related to Altzheimer's and Multiple Sclerosis. Some of the possible symptoms are gastrointestinal problems, sleep disturbances, concentration problems, memory disturbances, lack of initiative, restlessness, bleeding gums and other mouth disorders. If you choose to remove your mercury filling material, there is no guarantee that you will get better. So a dental patient must be cautious about removing this material and do so without any promises. Removing old fillings is just a do it and see procedure. The dentist can not promise anything to you. However, some patients have had dramatic changes in their health after the material is removed.
The dentists at the Atlanta Dental Group PC have chosen not to use mercury unless the patient requests it or if the patient grinds his or her teeth. If you are interested in dental care and would like to find out what our dentists can do for you, please consider scheduling a free dental consultation by calling 404-874-7428.