- Hg is the chemical symbol for mercury
- It has an atomic number of 80
- It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum
- Mercury is the third most toxic substance after arsenic and lead.
Currently most dental associations make the same claims about how fantastic mercury amalgam is and how essential it is for filling teeth. These claims may both false and/or misleading.
(My comments in purple).
“Amalgam is any alloy that contains mercury. Copper, silver, and tin are the major components in dental amalgam but it may also contain zinc, indium, gold, platinum, and palladium… The inclusion of palladium in high-copper alloy …. contributes to the reduction of mercury vapor release during amalgam setting.20
Amalgam is not an alloy. It is a MIXTURE OF MERCURY WITH OTHER METALS. High copper amalgams release 50X more mercury than non copper amalgams. Almost all amalgams on the market today are high copper amalgams. Those that contain Palladium will also release this metal as well as mercury. Palladium is also used in some crown and bridge alloys.
Palladium is highly toxic and can cause allergic reactions in ultra low doses. People with nickel allergies may be highly susceptible to Palladium and should avoid all sources of this metal. It is regarded as carcinogenic. It causes bone marrow, kidney and liver damage.
Has your dentist checked if you are nickel or palladium sensitive?
Dental amalgam is a safe, affordable and durable restorative material.
Not safe, not durable and not cheap.
…150 years, dental amalgam has served as a safe, durable and affordable material in restorative dentistry
150 years does not demonstrate safety.
… continued use of dental amalgam as a restorative material does not pose a health hazard to the nonallergic patient
Allergy is only one of the effects of mercury. Do any dentists perform allergy testing before implanting this third most toxic substance known? Mercury is a known neurotoxin. This is what it is famous for. Allergy is not a test for Alzheimer’s. Its like suggesting that cars are only dangerous if they crash!
…. to advocate to a patient or the public the removal of clinically serviceable dental amalgam restorations solely to substitute a material that does not contain mercury is unwarranted and violates the ADA Principles of Ethics and Code of Professional Conduct…
It is “ethical” however to poison anyone with mercury without their written consent.
… environmental concerns regarding mercury have fueled legislative and regulatory actions in other countries to phase down amalgam use.”
Amalgam has also been banned in many countries as it is toxic to humans.
See environmental effects of mercury from amalgam here.
The claims of safety fly in the face of what the manufacturers say about their own materials. See the Material Safety Data Sheets for these materials and the warnings on these MSDSs
A couple of recent studies clearly demonstrate that the mercury that comes out of the amalgam filling is even measurable deep within the structure of teeth as well as the rest of the body. [iii],[iv]
The word ‘amalgam’ means a mixture of one or more metals with mercury.
Dental amalgam is NOT an alloy. It is a mixture. I am not just being pedantic here – the difference is important. The alloy component is made up of roughly 40% Silver, 30% Tin, 28% Copper & 2% Zinc. It may also contain indium, gold, platinum, and palladium
The alloy of silver, tin, copper & zinc is powdered and later, in the surgery, mixed with an equal amount of elemental, liquid mercury. That’s right. Dental amalgam is 50% pure mercury. Dental Amalgam is a MIXTURE of an alloy WITH mercury. Much of the mercury remains as free mercury, which can and does escape readily from the mixture once it sets.
Only some of the mercury combines with the alloy particles and even this mercury is NOT stable. Most of the mercury in the filling is free – un-combined.
Elemental mercury is released from the amalgam all of the time, with vapour levels increasing under certain conditions. Being alive is one of those conditions. It defies comprehension that this material is claimed to be stable. It is a mixture of different metals in an electrolyte solution called saliva, with differing electrical potentials causing metallic ions to go into solution all of the time. Perhaps the author of the PTO gibberish above, forgot to go to that metallurgy lecture back in under-grad dentistry.
Mercury is liquid at room temperature. It also vaporizes at room temperature. As a vapour it is absorbed easily into the body and stored in fatty tissue, including the myelin sheath around the nerves. 80% of inhaled mercury is absorbed into the body. (WHO 1991) It crosses the protective blood brain barrier with ease, as well as the placenta, and also enters the newborn child via the breast milk.
And just when you thought that mercury is the only culprit in amalgam, (it is certainly the most talked about), you might find it interesting to know that the organic tin compounds, formed from the tin in the amalgam, is even more neurotoxic than mercury! [v],[vi],[vii] Not to mention the effects of Palladium!
Although the toxicity of elemental mercury had been reported already by Pliny the Elder (23-79 ad). it became known as a serious health hazard only in the recent modern industrial age.[viii]
How did all this begin you might ask. Well way back when anatomy was something only men studied, and science was still about apples falling from trees, there were two groups of healers. One group were the scientific mobs which included herbalists, homeopaths and in China people who stuck needles into some strange places in the body. Overall, this group created what we now know as ‘medicine’. The other group were more free ranging. They wandered or rode their donkeys from village to village, pulling out painful teeth. They were the teeth pullers of our society. Eventually they also became barbers, who were respected for cutting hair and feared for pulling teeth.
By the 1800’s they had developed ways of trying to stop tooth aches by filling the holes in teeth. They used various materials such as clay, wood, tin and molten lead. Gold was kept only for the wealthy. Understandably their services were dreaded rather than sought.
Then, in 1812, an English chemist, Mr Bell, manufactured the first mercury amalgam. It was cheap, easily workable at room temperature, easy to use and ‘Patient Friendly’. It was black and unsightly, but a lot better than having molten lead poured into the hole in the tooth. (After all lead is the second most toxic substance.)
Ignorant of the dangers, patients and dentists were, as you can imagine, relieved to be able have such a user friendly material.
Mercuric nitrates were already being used in the hat industry, in the early 1800s, to cure the felt that was used to make the hats for the upper classes. People in this industry were exposed to massive levels of mercury. They went quite mad. This is where the term ‘Mad As A Hatter‘ originates.
Today, there is no other industry in the world, allowed to expose their employees to the levels of mercury that dental personnel are exposed to. The regulations controlling levels of mercury exposure, are not enforced in the dental industry. They are in fact ignored. Dental personnel are badly affected. Many are quite mad. This includes the teachers and the trade organizations.
By the 1830’s, the use of mercury amalgam had spread through Europe and the Americas. The new wonder filling material was an instant success. Quecksilber is the German and Swedish word for mercury, and dentists who used this new wonder material were called “Quecksilber dentists” or ‘QUACKS’ for short.
This is also the first time that a disease called Multiple Sclerosis was seen and diagnosed.
The use of mercury amalgam was vigorously opposed by the dental societies of the time, as they were well aware that mercury was released from the set material. They were also aware that mercury was highly poisonous. The Chinese knew it 3000 years ago.
The dental societies required their members to sign a pledge that they would never place this toxic material into a living person’s mouth. The Quacks refused. They finally had a filling material that was both cheap and easy to use. They did not agree that mercury was harmful in this situation, as they believed that it was locked into the set amalgam filling. There was major controversy and the existing dental societies in the USA and Sweden collapsed.
New Private Trade Organizations were formed by the Quacks, based on the use of dental amalgam as the best material for filling human teeth. So was born the American Dental Association and the Swedish Dental Association, and then the rest of the world’s PTOs.
The known dangers of mercury were simply ignored then, as they are today. The fact that the material would swell and crack the teeth, was also ignored then, as it is today. These same associations still set the standards for the majority of dentists. They still control what is Ethical Dental Practice.
The American Dental Association still owns two patents on the most popular formulation of dental amalgam. [Patent Number 4018600 (1977) and Number 4078921 (1978)]
This rebellion by the Quacks is regarded as the first amalgam war. They won that war and continue to poison their patients till this day.
The second amalgam war came in 1926, when a German chemist called Alfred Stock, published articles condemning amalgam restorations. He tried to warn the world. He amassed and presented much of the published literature of the time in support of his position. He was ridiculed and ignored, because a mere chemist could not have the brilliance or mechanical expertise to really know anything about dentistry. Again the dangers of mercury poisoning were ignored. Again the Quacks won the battle. By this stage the dental associations were well organized and their vested interests needed protecting. Their political and financial clout was also being increased dramatically.
Manufacturers pay incredible sums of money to have their products endorsed by the dental associations. These ‘endorsements’ are merely financial arrangements – they are not a mark of safety or efficacy. In a legal case in 1992, the American Dental Association offered the following statement, in their defence against being sued for poisoning a patient with mercury: “…..The ADA did not manufacture, distribute or install the amalgam fillings. …The ADA has no legal duty of care to protect the public from allegedly harmful dental materials…”
The third amalgam war began in the 1970’s, when another courageous genius by the name of Dr Hal Huggins, tried again to inform the world. The difference this time was that Dr Huggins was a dentist. Ranks were suddenly broken from within and the reaction to his work was ferocious. Some professors immediately set out to disprove what Dr Huggins was saying. Some of them are still trying. A handful of researchers found that all they could do was support Huggins’ findings. Then they tried a little harder to disprove him, and again they could only find evidence that supported his position. This small group realized that the dangers were real, and that the use of amalgam was harming the health of their patients. Unlike their colleagues these people had some integrity. They formed a new organization and called it the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. IAOMT is now one of the most respected scientific organizations which oppose the use of mercury amalgam (www.iaomt.org). It is composed of by Professors of Dentistry, researchers and dentists. IAOMT has a broad association with some of the most respected scientists and medical researchers in the world. All are warning of the dangers of mercury from amalgam.
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) [ix] Mercury is the third most toxic substance after arsenic and lead. Considering that few people are exposed to arsenic, and that lead remains stable at room temperature, we experience comparatively little effect from these two toxins. In most countries petrol no longer contains any lead. This leaves mercury, which is liquid at room temperature, easily vaporizes at room temperature and enters the body with ease, as the single most toxic substance that most people are exposed to.
(A slight diversion – Hexafluorosilicic acid is used to fluoridate our drinking water. It strips the lead out off the lead solder around our water pipes. This puts lead into our drinking water and into your body. The synergistic effect of lead and mercury makes both metals about 100 times more toxic when together, than either alone. This form of fluoride is also contaminated with arsenic which also has a synergistic effect with both lead and mercury. This fluoride also causes corrosion of titanium implants and thus an increase in titanium ions entering the body.)
One of the largest manufacturers of amalgam states: [x]
“The placement of a dental amalgam in a patient will increase the levels of mercury in the body of the patient”.
According to this manufacturer, their product is far from stable. Dentists are the only group of people in the world, who cannot comprehend such clarity. Perhaps their judgements are rather obscured by their own exposure to mercury. Do they really think that there is a safe level of mercury that the body can handle?
The health authorities of various countries including Canada, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Austria and even Australia have recommended against the placement of amalgam in pregnant and nursing women, children and people with impaired kidney function. None have ever come out with a statement informing us who it IS safe for!
In the mid 1970s, the alloy of amalgam was modified. Copper was added to the alloy with silver, zinc and tin. This new High Coper Amalgam was supposedly much stronger than the old version pre copper. It was touted as not releasing any mercury. Sadly this is not true. High copper amalgams release mercury 50 times faster than the older, non-copper versions. [xi]
Dental Amalgam
has NEVER been approved as a filling material by either
the TGA in Australia or the FDA in America.
U.S. Environmental Protection Authority
Here is what the USEPA says about mercury;
Hazard Summary-Created in April 1992.
Revised in January 2000.[i]
“Acute (short-term) exposure to high levels of elemental mercury in humans results in central nervous system (CNS) effects such as tremors, mood changes, and slowed sensory and motor nerve function.
“Chronic (long-term) exposure to elemental mercury in humans also affects the CNS, with effects such as erethism (increased excitability), irritability, excessive shyness, and tremors. Human studies are inconclusive regarding elemental mercury and cancer.”
“The CNS is the major target organ for elemental mercury toxicity in humans. Effects noted include erethism (increased excitability), irritability, excessive shyness, insomnia, severe salivation, gingivitis, and tremors.
Chronic exposure to elemental mercury also affects the kidney in humans, with the development of proteinuria.
Acrodynia is a rare syndrome found in children exposed to elemental mercury compounds. It is characterized by severe leg cramps, irritability, paresthesia (a sensation of prickling on the skin), and painful pink fingers and peeling hands, feet, and nose.
U.S. EPA has not established a Reference Dose (RfD) for elemental mercury.
“The Reference Concentration (RfC) for elemental mercury is 0.0003 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) based on CNS effects in humans. The RfC is an estimate (with uncertainty spanning perhaps an order of magnitude) of a continuous inhalation exposure to the human population (including sensitive subgroups) that is likely to be without appreciable risk of deleterious noncancer effects during a lifetime. It is not a direct estimator of risk but rather a reference point to gauge the potential effects. At exposures increasingly greater than the RfC, the potential for adverse health effects increases. Lifetime exposure above the RfC does not imply that an adverse health effect would necessarily occur.”
Criteria 118 published by the World Health Organisation in 1991, clearly states that the
No Observable Effects Level (NOEL) for mercury is ZERO.
Any amount of mercury will cause observable physiological change!
References
[i] http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/mercury.html#ref11
[i] AmDA website as of July 2007,
[ii] http://www.ada.org/public/topics/fillings.asp
[iii] Bello LT da Ana PA Santos D Krug FJ Zezell DM Vieira ND Samad RE Mercury Amalgam Diffusion in Human Teeth Probed Using Femtosecond LIBS. Appl Spectrosc (2017 Apr) 71(4):659-669
[iv] Brigato Rde C Costa LM da Costa MR Assis NM Kubo CH Mercury, copper, and zinc concentrations in extracted human teeth. Arch Environ Occup Health (2009 Winter) 64(4):266-9
[v] Facts about Mercury and Dental Amalgam (with Medical Study References) Bernard Windham,
[vi] Amalgamtest”, Forum Prakt.Allgen.Arzt, 1990, 29(8): 213-4
[vii] Toxicologische erfahrungen am menchen; Quecksilber in der umwelf-hearing zum amalgamproblem”,Niedersachsiscles Umweltministerium, 1991; & “Amalgam”, Ecomed-Verlag, Landsberg, 1995;
[viii] http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Elements-Toxic/Mercury.htm
[ix] http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/
[x] MSDS for Tytin amalgam, manufactured by Kerr Corp
[xi] Akiyama M Oshima H Nakamura M Genotoxicity of mercury used in chromosome aberration tests. Toxicol In Vitro (2001 Aug-Oct)