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What are "silver" fillings made of? |
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You may be wondering why we put the quotation
marks around the word "silver". It would seem to imply that the
fillings are made of something other than silver. They are.
There is some silver in them, but only about 30%. The primary
ingredient in "silver" filling material is mercury. |
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If mercury is so toxic, why is it used as a restorative
material? |
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As you already know, mercury is highly toxic substance.
You may recall several schools being closed due to mercury spills in early
1997. Until the early 1980's, amalgam was the only inexpensive
material available to fill back teeth. With the development of new
white filling materials, we now have a cost effective alternative to
amalgam. |
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Does the mercury become inert when it is mixed with the
other metals in dental amalgam? |
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You may remember having a metallic taste in
your mouth after having mercury based fillings placed. The metallic
aftertaste lasted about half a week, didn't it? If all the mercury was
tightly bound to the other metals, how were you able to taste it? The
truth is that mercury is being given off constantly by the filling as long
as it is in the tooth. |
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If amalgam is so dangerous, why hasn't the government
declared it to be a toxic substance? |
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The scrap amalgam is legally designated as toxic waste.
It cannot be put into a landfill. Dentist who still use this material
must, by law, take special precautions with the leftover material. It
has to be place in a tightly sealed container, but even that is not enough.
Because mercury vapor would escape every time the container was opened, the
scrap amalgam must be covered with glycerine to suppress the release of
mercury vapor. It must then be turned over to a company that
specializes in processing that type of toxic waste. Evidently the only
safe place to store it is in your teeth. |
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If amalgam is so toxic, why has it not been banned? |
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It has, but not in this country - yet. Germany and
Sweden have both passed laws phasing out the legal use of dental amalgam to
post a prominent warning in their reception area that it may cause birth
defects or miscarriages if used in pregnant females. |
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I've heard that the white fillings are not strong enough to
be used in back teeth.
Is this true? |
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Yes and no. There are several types of white filling
materials on the market. Some are suitable for restoring back teeth
and some are not. The materials we had 20 years ago were entirely
inadequate for use in back teeth. They wore away much too quickly.
There also were too weak to resist fracture. Those problems have been
solved. Today's materials are comparable to amalgam in both strength
and wear resistance. Many are slightly superior to amalgam in both
these areas. |
