Silver Fillings or Composite Resin Fillings?
Many dentists no longer use silver fillings because they feel they are not safe. Along with copper, traces of zinc, and silver, these fillings are basically fifty percent mercury. Mercury is a poisonous substance in its raw form and has been documented to have all sorts of negative, toxic effects on the human body.
Of course, the way silver fillings are mixed, they are supposed to be safe. For 150 years now, in fact, the American Dental Association has monitored their impact on the general public and stated that there is no conclusive evidence that once used in an alloy of this nature that mercury would ever prove harmful to a dental patient.
Other people feel that mercury is mercury, and you should not have it in your body at all in any form. When mercury compounds break down and trace amounts of mercury gas are released, it can find its way into the lungs and cause cells in the body to die. Cells die every day for all types of reasons, however, so there is ongoing argument on both sides of this issue as to how safe these miniscule trace amounts of mercury are or how potentially damaging they can be over a long period of time.
We personally do not want to get caught up in this debate, nor do we take any sort of stance here against the ADA. We simply like to err on the side of caution in this matter and just avoid the use of silver fillings that contain mercury—and all the controversy that surrounds them—and offer our patients something we feel is much better for them from a cosmetic perspective, anyway.
In our practice, we avoid the use of anything that contains mercury. We are not here to get caught up in a heated debate— we simply believe that it is better to be safe than sorry, and to use composite resin fillings that have a greater cosmetic appeal.
This alternative is known as cosmetic dental bonding. It uses cosmetic resins that are mixed to match the color of surrounding teeth. In many cases, the only way to fill a very small cavity is to use this material. Otherwise, what the patient ends up with is a dark dot on his or her tooth.
This does not look all that good.
In other arenas, composite resin fillings prove even more effective. When filling bigger cavities, they do not require the same degree of drilling as do silver amalgam fillings. All the dentist needs to do is to remove the decaying enamel and dentin, then fill the cavity with composite resin. The resin bonds much more quickly to the tooth surface and does not need the same depth of drilling as metal fillings require.
Of course, the way silver fillings are mixed, they are supposed to be safe. For 150 years now, in fact, the American Dental Association has monitored their impact on the general public and stated that there is no conclusive evidence that once used in an alloy of this nature that mercury would ever prove harmful to a dental patient.
Other people feel that mercury is mercury, and you should not have it in your body at all in any form. When mercury compounds break down and trace amounts of mercury gas are released, it can find its way into the lungs and cause cells in the body to die. Cells die every day for all types of reasons, however, so there is ongoing argument on both sides of this issue as to how safe these miniscule trace amounts of mercury are or how potentially damaging they can be over a long period of time.
We personally do not want to get caught up in this debate, nor do we take any sort of stance here against the ADA. We simply like to err on the side of caution in this matter and just avoid the use of silver fillings that contain mercury—and all the controversy that surrounds them—and offer our patients something we feel is much better for them from a cosmetic perspective, anyway.
In our practice, we avoid the use of anything that contains mercury. We are not here to get caught up in a heated debate— we simply believe that it is better to be safe than sorry, and to use composite resin fillings that have a greater cosmetic appeal.
This alternative is known as cosmetic dental bonding. It uses cosmetic resins that are mixed to match the color of surrounding teeth. In many cases, the only way to fill a very small cavity is to use this material. Otherwise, what the patient ends up with is a dark dot on his or her tooth.
This does not look all that good.
In other arenas, composite resin fillings prove even more effective. When filling bigger cavities, they do not require the same degree of drilling as do silver amalgam fillings. All the dentist needs to do is to remove the decaying enamel and dentin, then fill the cavity with composite resin. The resin bonds much more quickly to the tooth surface and does not need the same depth of drilling as metal fillings require.
Labels: composite resin fillings, cosmetic dental bonding, silver amalgam fillings, silver mercury fillings
posted by Dental Expert at
9:16 PM
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