The Case of Banning the Use of Dental Amalgam

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Recommended: mercury in oceansand ecological persepective

Mercury is a unique and important element that has been used by humans since ancient times. Over the years, several combinations with mercury have been found for various uses such as; measuring devices, batteries and fluorescents, medicaments, as well as one of the most important uses dental amalgam. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), dental amalgam is a durable metal alloy composed of 50% mercury, 35% silver, 9% tin, and 6% copper, and trace amounts of zinc. The compound forms into a hard and stable substance. As the ADA states, “dental amalgam … has been used to safely restore the teeth of more than 100 million of Americans.” However, there have been growing concerns and recent debates about whether dental amalgam is a health and environmental hazard.

The uproar can be traced back to the 1830s in France. According to John E. Dodes, D.D.S., this time period was known as the amalgam wars because half of the dentists preferred using amalgam while other dentists considered using amalgam as malpractice. Many rumors were spread about dental amalgam. Some dentists wanted dental amalgam to be banned, and therefore spread false rumors about how bad dental amalgam is. For many years, many scientific case studies and reviews have been performed to decide whether these accusations were true or not. I am going to discuss the reasons why I believe that dentist should continue to use amalgam and why it is not poisonous to us.

While many dentists support the use of amalgam in dental care, others are skeptical about the use of amalgam because they believe that dental amalgam is linked to several disorders and body dysfunctions. Several case studies have been performed that proved that amalgam is linked to health problems. In...

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E.C. "DENTAL DAMAGE." E - The Environmental Magazine 17.3 (2006): 25. Points of View

Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 9 Feb. 2011.

Feuer, George, and H. Stephen Injeyan. "The dental amalgam controversy: a review." Journal of

The Canadian Chiropractic Association 40.3 (1996): 169. Academic Search Complete.

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Hinely, Paula. "Amalgam Fillings Are Safe, But Skeptics Still Claim Controversy, Researcher

Says."Medical News Today: Health News. 05 Apr. 2009. Web. 08 Feb. 2011. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/144984.php

Scarmoutzos, Louis, and Boyd, Owen. “Environmental and Toxicological Concerns of Dental

Amalgam and Mercury.” Journal of MVS Solutions. (2003): 1-42.

Tyas MJ. “Dental amalgam--what are the alternatives?” International Dental Journal. 1994 Aug; 44(4):303–308.

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