What are mercury fillings?
The terms; silver fillings, amalgam fillings and mercury fillings all mean the same thing. Silver fillings are made from a dental material called amalgam. Dental amalgam is a liquid mercury and metal alloy mixture. Amalgam commonly consists of mercury (50%), silver (~22–32%), tin (~14%), zinc (~8%) and other trace metals. Amalgam fillings used to be very popular a long time ago. It was the only dental material used, in fact, for many years. Once, white (resin composite) fillings were developed, many dentists have stopped using amalgam. Mercury filling removal is a popular procedure, we offer to patients, at Corio Central Dental.
Are mercury fillings bad for your health?
The effects of silver fillings on overall health, is a concern for some patients. The media often talks about the dangers of mercury fillings. Can mercury can leak out of the fillings and circulate around your body? There is very little evidence based, conclusive research, to suggest one way or the other. We have had patients report feeling better, once all their mercury fillings have been replaced.
Should I have mercury filling removal?
At Corio Central dental, we do not recommend prophylactically removing all silver fillings. We only suggest that patients replace silver fillings, if there is a problem with them. The photos included below, show some of the problems that commonly occur in teeth with old mercury fillings.
Top 10 reasons you should replace your mercury fillings to white fillings:
- silver filling is broken
- tooth around filling is chipped
- amalgam filling is leaking
- mercury filling causing a crack in your tooth
- metal filling causing staining of your tooth
- existing filling worn down and ineffective
- old filings cosmetically unacceptable
- amalgam fillings have deteriorated, after decades of use
- tooth decay under the silver filling
- poor fitting filling, causing gum inflammation
Is mercury filling removal difficult?
The difficulty depends on the size of existing silver filling, because that determines how much healthy natural tooth is remaining. Replacement of a small mercury filling to a white filling is a standard and relatively easy dental procedure. However, if the tooth around the silver filling has broken down and there is minimal tooth structure remaining, a crown may be required to rebuild the tooth.
Do you offer mercury fillings to your patients?
At Corio Central Dental, we only offer white fillings to patients.
Before and After:
The image below shows an example of what the teeth look like, once the mercury filling removal is completed.
