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The mercury  question has been hot for 40 years now, ever since a guy called Hal Huggins raised the profile of this toxic stuff being put into peoples’ mouths.

The initial undisputed fact is that mercury is highly toxic.

The contrary argument is that when it has been mixed with silver and tin, to make a eutectic compound called amalgam, there is no free mercury left, so it is safe to put into the mouth in this state.

The former position is carried by all the preventive/thinking/holistic camp members who declare that free mercury continues to leach from amalgam initially and for years thereafter, particularly as the metal is stressed during chewing, etc..

The contrary position is taken by all University dental schools and regulatory and insurance (=pay for the treatment) bodies, who claim that since billions of amalgam fillings have ben placed since 1900 or whenever, no one has clearly died because of one, so it is OK to continue.

I stopped using amalgam 30 years ago, within the first 5% to do so. Now in 2014, about 95% of fillings in Canada, for example, are NOT amalgam but it is still used by some, for example in locations on a tooth where a ‘composite’  filling cannot easily be used.

I actually threw all my amalgam out of my office so was forced to find a way to make other materials work.

At that time, composites were in their infancy. Now, they are so good/strong/close to tooth content in physical characteristics, that there is just no good reason to use amalgam any more, unless the dentist is out of date, or thinks it is cheaper, or some such.

Still the universities cling to teaching it, and the regulatory bodies think it is fine.

Sweden banned amalgams from pregnant women and kids under 16 about 30 years ago. In Canada, it is “recommended” that amalgams should be “limited “ in children.

Some Municipalities are now insisting that dentists have fancy waste collection systems to stop amalgam waste from flowing down the line.

Getting back to your gold question, if a new amalgam is placed in contact with a gold filling , or crown, there is a immediate galvanic action which is perceived as a buzz or zing by the patient.

This wears off after a while (Free mercury still around initally???).

Regarding mercury leaching out of old amalgam fillings, some claim it is an issue. Undoubtedly, the amount is infinitesimal, but probably there, none the less.

We understand that drilling out the old amalgam actually creates a great cloud of vaporized metals, and undoubtedly creates a mountain from a molehill.

For this reason, some dentists were reluctant to remove patients’ amalgams en masse before replacing them all with composite or gold. I have had a few patients request this.

A protocol has emerged where the patient is put on hi loads of Vit C, other antioxidants, etc, and the dentist uses fine filter breathing masks, and super-high volume suctioning equipment placed almost right over the mouth to suck up all the vapour as the old mercury is drilled out, using lots of water spray to keep every thing very well cooled. Keep the dentist healthy!! In spite of this, it is still OK to use it in a new cavity!!!

At this point in the discussion,  you probably know more than I do, since I haven’t really been following the story too closely in the past 10 years, having personally done my decision –making 30 years ago.

There’s lots out there about this, but that’s my 2 bits’ worth!!

Good luck, and stop using those pineapple flavoured eye shades!!

Love ya,

D