Replacing Amalgam Fillings

What is an amalgam filling?

Amalgam is made by mixing an alloy of silver, zinc, tin and copper with mercury. Mercury makes up 45-50% of the mixture.

Do amalgam fillings harm your health?

Whether amalgam fillings affect human health is a debate that never quite goes away. It centres on the heavy metals they contain, above all the 50% mercury. There is, however, no proven evidence that the mercury bound inside an amalgam filling has toxic effects.

Small, acceptable amounts of mercury are released from amalgam fillings through evaporation, eating, drinking, chewing and brushing. A great deal of research has shown that the greatest toxic exposure comes not from placing or living with the filling, but from removing it. That is precisely why amalgam must be removed under special conditions.

How we remove amalgam fillings

Once the filling to be replaced has been identified at the first examination, the area is isolated with a rubber dam. If any gap remains between the dam and the tooth, a gingival barrier seals it completely.

The amalgam is sectioned into large pieces with small-diameter burs and lifted out of the mouth, and any decay underneath is cleaned away. A composite filling is then placed, the rubber dam is removed and the mouth is rinsed. Finally the bite is adjusted, the filling is polished and the protective equipment comes off.

There is no need to worry about amalgam fillings already in your mouth. But when one does have to be removed, following this protocol matters a great deal.