Are Amalgams Poisonous?

Recently there has been some debate on the contraversy of using a toxic material such as mercury in the mouth in the form of amalgams. Since this is a touchy subject for many people, you should make your own mind up regarding the safety of amalgam, the following are a few links that you can follow to have a look at the subject of amalgam safety. I have no hesitation in recommending amalgam fillings for my patients.

The main problem I have with many of the anti-amalgam sites is the reliability of the information quoted and the validity of the research articles. Many of the anti-amalgam sites are set-up by very passionate individuals and hence the marked proliferation of these sites and their number - far more than the pro-amalgam lobby (mostly statutory bodies like the ADA):

Pro-amalgam sites

• The American Dental Association, look under dental amalgam.
• The Department of Health and Human Services, brief precis on evidence to date.
• A news release from the American Dental Association.
• Dentistry Online - briefly describes an experiment with regards to the toxicity of amalgam - for the layman.

Anti-amalgam sites

• Leif Hedegards Mercury Page, this doesn't claim to be a anti-amalgam site but comes pretty close.
• The abstract from a study carried out by Hultman P, Johansson U, Turley S J, Lindh U, Eneström S & Pollard K M, regarding the level of mercury on the immune system.
• Is Amalgam Safe? This site links up with many other sites world wide, I didn't bother looking through all the links.
• Bo Halfjalt's site on the inequities of risk with regards to amalgam.

Or if you prefer for and against sites, where you can read and decide:

• Scientific Abstracts on Mercury Amalgam - interesting link this, with many other links from it. Worth a read!

These lists are by no means complete, there are approximately 1570 sites world wide on mercury and the contraversy surrounding amalgam, if you use the Excite search protocol on my search page and search for +dental and +amalgam you'll get a list of sites that deal with the subject. Enjoy!