Amalgam in Dental Fillings

The tendency of mercury to form amalgams has been utilized in dentistry. An amalgam for dental fillings may be composed of 52% mercury, 35% silver and 13% tin. It is prepared by stirring a silver-tin alloy into mercury. The mixture is vibrated to a plastic mass, which is placed in the bored tooth and compressed. 

The health problems with dental amalgam fillings are treated in many publications. Washington Department of Health (DOH) has reviewed amalgam fillings as a health risk [35.6]. 

Mercury and its compounds in ancient times. Journal of Chemical Education, 1928, 5, 419-424 

The Leyden Papyrus X. Journal of Chemical Education 1926, 3 10, 1149-1166 

Langford, R. E. Femer, Toxicity of mercury. Journal of Human Hypertension, 1999,13, 651-656 

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After 12-14 hours of exposure of rats to a relatively small amount of metallic mercury vapor (0.55 mg/m3), accumulation of mercury was observed within all cell types examined (ganglion cells, satellite cells, fibroblasts, and macrophages). Mercury has also been detected in dorsal root neurons and satellite cells of primates exposed for one year to mercury through amalgams in dental fillings or the maxillary bone (Danscher et al. 1990). 

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