Amalgam Fillings?

[LiLi Wang]

I have heard that there are serious side-effects of having amalgam fillings, and currently I am very unsure of the information I have. Therefore, I came up with few questions to trying to know better of this subject.

• What is dental amalgam?
• What should I know before getting a dental amalgam filling? (Potential benefits and risks)
• Why is mercury used in dental amalgam?
• Does mercury leak out of the fillings?
• Why is this product still on market?
• Are there better alternatives?
• Would you recommend your patients to have amalgam fillings? Why?

 

[drmins]

Amalgam has been used in dentistry since ages. If done with proper triturations and handling, these are very safe.
Though there are now opinions suggesting leakage of mercury from the restorations,these are very minimal.

Yes. There are many alternatives for amalgan fillings. The choice of amalgam in my practice depends upon or varies with cases.

Thanking you
Dr. mins

 

[LisaP80]

Amalgam is made of silver, tin, copper, and mercury. The large part of it is mercury, which acts as some kind of 'glue' to make the filling strong and durable.
There have been some concerns about the mercury leak, but I agree with drmins that the case is very minimal in numbers. As long as you make sure to make regular checkup to your dentist (every 6 month) it should be okay.
The product is still available on the market largely because of two reasons: it's cheap, and the reported cases of mercury leak is minimal.
There are various and better alternatives compared to amalgam fillings, The most commonly used alternative is the resin composite fillings. This filling has teeth-like color, but it is less durable and more expensive. Other notable alternatives are glass ionomer cement fillings (best for minor filling work) and gold foil fillings.