by Dr. Gregory R. Bowen
This is a good example of a silver-mercury filling that was placed, who knows how long ago. These fillings “last” a long time, this one has probably been there for more than 20 years, but you can see from the intra-oral camera photo, that there are lots of problems.
You can clearly see numerous cracks, corrosion, and open margins (edges where the
material joins the tooth) and also a crack in the tooth, which is just visible at the bottom
of the picture.
Fortunately, this patient didn’t wait until she had sensitivity to biting, hot or cold sensitivity, or throbbing at night. A white composite resin filling was placed and within 15 minutes the restoration was complete with no further risk to the tooth.
I am often asked if the mercury causes any problems… The standard answer is that not when “amalgamated” with silver. There are no conclusive studies on humans that show mercury toxicity from dental amalgam fillings, however it has been banned in Japan and some European countries, and there is talk of requiring filtering out the amalgam debris from dental offices before it goes down the sewer.
So in the eyes of the government, its OK for our mouths, but not the sewers!
This is a good example of a silver-mercury filling that was placed, who knows how long ago. These fillings “last” a long time, this one has probably been there for more than 20 years, but you can see from the intra-oral camera photo, that there are lots of problems.
Fortunately, this patient didn’t wait until she had sensitivity to biting, hot or cold sensitivity, or throbbing at night. A white composite resin filling was placed and within 15 minutes the restoration was complete with no further risk to the tooth.
I am often asked if the mercury causes any problems… The standard answer is that not when “amalgamated” with silver. There are no conclusive studies on humans that show mercury toxicity from dental amalgam fillings, however it has been banned in Japan and some European countries, and there is talk of requiring filtering out the amalgam debris from dental offices before it goes down the sewer.
So in the eyes of the government, its OK for our mouths, but not the sewers!
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