Mercury Amalgam Fillings

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There has been a lot of fear mongering about mercury in amalgam fillings for the past few years. Much of the supposed 'controversy' is not within the American Dental Association (ADA) or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The following article contains the science and then the fiction within this issue.

The Science:
Amalgam fillings contain mercury, silver, tin, copper and zinc. These materials form a strong and stable mixture. Approximately half of this mixture is elemental mercury. These ingredients are tightly bonded and don't react to other materials easily. This material has been used to fill cavities in teeth for over 150 years and is strong and long lasting. This compound for fillings is the least expensive and has a large body of testing behind it.

Mercury has many unique properties; the important one for amalgam is that it is a liquid at room temperature. This property helps make dental amalgam so durable. Also, there are many different types of mercury; elemental mercury, inorganic mercury and methylmercury. Elemental mercury is what is used in dental amalgams and releases mercury vapor which is mainly absorbed by the lungs. Fish are a source of methylmercury; this is the most toxic type of mercury and is absorbed in the digestive system.

Like anything that contains elemental mercury however there are risks. These fillings do contain mercury which does release low levels of mercury vapor. The FDA however has reviewed the best available scientific evidence to decide if amalgam fillings should be used. Based on the evidence the "FDA considers dental amalgam fillings safe for adults and children ages 6 and above. The amount of mercury measured in the bodies of people with dental amalgam fillings is well below levels associated with adverse health effects (fda.gov)." This research has held true for one filling to large amounts like fifteen or more. The only time that the FDA recommends against amalgam fillings, is for those who have an allergy or sensitivity to mercury.

Studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) have shown that these fillings are safe and efficacious. This body of research in JAMA is what has decided both the FDA and the ADA to classify amalgam fillings as safe. Because of the potential risks for dentists that are handling amalgam fillings regularly they have been classified as a class II device. This places it in the same class as gold and tooth-colored composite fillings.

This classification comes with recommendations, it is recommended that patients inform themselves before there decision on which type of filling to get. It is also recommended for dentists to be careful when using amalgam because regular handling gives a higher exposure to the dentist than the patient could receive. The FDA and the ADA have agreed that there should not be any restrictions on amalgam use because the research has demonstrated its safety.

The FDA does not recommend that you have your amalgams fillings removed or replaced. The process of removing amalgam fillings can damage healthy tooth structure and expose a person to far more mercury than the filling its self will. In the case of an allergy or sensitivity to the amalgam, a dentist can offer recommendations for treatment. The safest method of course is best said by the ADA "prevent dental disease through brushing, flossing and regular dental visits."

The Fiction:
On December 23, 1990 the television show '60 minutes' panicked its audience by announcing that mercury used in dental fillings is a poison. This show on CBS was not only intended to alarm, but was extremely irresponsible because it skewed the facts to cause the audience to worry. As was said above, Elemental mercury, while toxic is bound in amalgam to other ingredients to form a strong, stable substance. CBS tried to claim that they were doing balanced reporting but the massive amount of problems that resulted after the show were all because people feared for there safety.

Despite the science groups of dentists, physicians and other advocates claim that amalgam fillings are a health hazard. Hal Huggins is one of the figureheads for this fringe group. Dr. Huggins, D.D.S. started with seminars for dentists about 'balancing body chemistry' by controlling for diet, which the ADA Council on Dental Research found no evidence to support back in 1975. He then wrote the book It's All In Your Head, where he introduces the subject of mercury in fillings is the source of many diseases. Even though this dubious claim was put forth thirty years ago, the group Consumers for Dental Choice has held up Huggins' banner for years. The group was started in 1996 and continues to spread its misinformation despite the FDA and ADA standing against them.

In the Consumers website they say "we work to end the American Dental Association's notorious "gag rule" which tries to silence mercury-free dentists, and the ADA's promoting mercury amalgam under the deceptive term "silver." We favor full disclosure of the risks of mercury fillings." A quick look on the ADA's website shows not only the conclusions the ADA and FDA have found but the risks involved with amalgam fillings. This fallacious statement does not hold up with a simple look at the ADA's website.

If a dentist comes at you with a mercury vapor analyzer and tries to convince you that you should be 'detoxified,' run the other way. This machine gives a falsely high readout and the vapor that is exhaled is clearly not being absorbed by the body anyway. The best way to test for mercury is a urine test, which the vapor analyzer does not do.

Watch out for what anti-amalgam people classify as research as well. An example of the questionable research that get's presented is that of the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. In the universities experiment they used six sheep with amalgam fillings and a control of two. There conclusion, that the sheep lost much of their kidney function when they had the fillings. May not seem too dubious at first but there were a number of complaints about the research including that the preparation method for the amalgam was obsolete, that the detection methods were not valid and many more.

Finally watch out for places like naturalnews.com that are vehemently against amalgam fillings despite the evidence-based research that has led to the FDA and ADA to come out for continued use of these fillings. All in all consumers need to make there own decisions but when years of research all support the same conclusion - that amalgam fillings are not a health hazard - it seems that this cheap, safe and efficacious method of fillings is useful. If you still don't want to have amalgam fillings the FDA has a number of alternatives Two New York City high school students use a new DNA analysis technique to find 95 different animal species around them. Brenda Tan and Matt Cost of

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