Dental Health Check with Dr. Linda Niessen
Dental health topics from Dr. Linda Niessen of Baylor College of Dentistry
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 Silver Amalgam

By Dr. Linda Niessen
Monday, July 05, 2004
STORY:  SILVER AMALGAM
SCRIPT #564
AIRDATE:  Monday, July 5, 2004
DHC Master #19   Timecode: 40:30

Can silver dental fillings make you sick? The American Dental Association says absolutely not. And they say, any dentist who removes silver amalgam claiming a health benefit violates the dental association's professional code of ethics. Dr. Linda Niessen looks at the latest flap over silver dental fillings in today's Dental Health Check.

Luci Sampler suffers from arthritis. A chiropractor suggested the underlying cause was silver amalgam dental fillings.

"So I said okay. Maybe I should have the metal fillings out and the other fillings in, so we tried that but I can't really tell the difference," said Luci.

Debate over the safety of silver amalgam spans several decades. Dr. Marvin Hirsch, an authority on dental amalgam, says there is no evidence that the filling material causes harm.

"The studies of dental amalgam have been broad, often, and over and over again, it is proved that mercury in dental amalgam fillings is safe."

Most people are familiar with the concerns of liquid mercury, like in your thermometer. But in dental amalgam, the mercury is combined with silver to become solid. In the solid form, the mercury component is stable and poses no health risk.

But silver amalgam does have one drawback. It is not attractive. So only for cosmetic reasons did Luci's dentist replace her silver fillings.

"I would never recommend telling to remove their silver amalgam fillings with a guarantee of health benefits. It's unethical to do that," said Dr. Lee Fitzgerald.
 
The American Dental Association labels all efforts to ban silver fillings as "junk science." And the association says dental amalgam is the most thoroughly researched and tested material in dentistry. For Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas A & M System, I'm Dr. Linda Niessen, Channel 8 News. 

Dr. Linda Niessen, clinical professor in the Department of Restorative Sciences and  the Office of Communications and Development at Baylor College of Dentistry, hosts Dental Health Check, the only weekly dental feature shot on location in the nation.

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