Dental Amalgam: 150 years of Safety and Effectiveness
- Used for more than
150 years, dental amalgam (a.k.a. silver filling) is a safe, affordable
and durable material used to restore the teeth of more than 100 million
Americans. It contains a mixture of metals such as silver, copper and
tin, in addition to mercury, which chemically binds these components
into a hard, stable and safe substance.
- Dental amalgam
has an indisputable safety record and has been extensively reviewed.
The U.S. Public Health Service issued a report in 1993 stating there
is no health reason not to use amalgam, except in the extremely rare
case of the patient who is allergic to a component of amalgam. This
supports the findings of the Food and Drug Administration, the National
Institutes of Health Technology Assessment Conference and the National
Institutes of Dental Research, that dental amalgam is a safe and effective
restorative material. In addition, in 1991, Consumer Reports
noted that "given their solid track record...amalgam fillings are still
your best bet."
- People are exposed
to more total mercury from food, water and air than from the minuscule
amounts of mercury vapor generated from amalgam fillings.
- There is no scientific
evidence that exposure to mercury from amalgam restorations poses a
serious health risk in humans, except for the exceedingly small number
of allergic reactions. In 150 years of use, there have only been 100
documented cases of allergic reactions to amalgam in dental literature.
- In 1991, the FDA's
Dental Products Panel found there was no reason to remove amalgam fillings.
The U.S. Public Health Service found in 1993 "no persuasive reason to
believe that avoiding amalgams or having them removed will have a beneficial
effect on health." In fact, it is inadvisable to have amalgams removed
unnecessarily because it can cause structural damage to healthy teeth.
- Claims that the
removal of amalgam leads to recovery from multiple sclerosis or that
the use of amalgam leads to arthritis or Alzheimer's disease are unsubstantiated
and without scientifically established cause and effect.
- The ADA supports
ongoing research in the development of new materials that it hopes will
someday prove to be as safe and effective as dental amalgam. Current
alternatives, such as composite resins, have not been as effective as
dental amalgam in providing a durable and long- lasting restoration,
especially in the case of large fillings.
- The ADA concurs
with the findings of the U.S. Public Health Service that amalgam has
"continuing value in maintaining oral health."
- A recent study of approximately 1,700 dentists reported in the November 1995 issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA) concludes that dentists are now less exposed to mercury in their practices, as indicated by dropping levels of mercury concentrations found during urinary screenings, due to increased use of precautions as they create and apply dental amalgams
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