Dental Amalgam Mercury Filling: Safe in Kids. How about adults?
Silver-coloured dental fillings containing mercury, a neurotoxin, do not appear to cause brain damage in children, two studies suggest.
Dentists have used amalgam fillings containing 50 per cent mercury by weight for more than a century.
Use of amalgam fillings has dropped off after mercury-free white composite resin fillings came on the market.
More sophisticated testing developed over the years can now detect lower levels of mercury, raising concerns about health effects from continuous exposure to mercury vapours from fillings.
One research team in the U.S. and another in Portugal compared the neurological effects of giving children amalgam fillings versus composite ones.
Dr. Sonja McKinlay of the New England Research Institutes in Boston looked for changes in intelligence, memory and other mental functions, as well as kidney function, in 534 New England children ages 6 to 10.
The youngsters all had untreated decay in their permanent back teeth, and none had previously received amalgam fillings. Half received each type of filling, and they were followed up for about five years.
“In this study, there were no statistically significant differences in adverse neuropsychological or renal [kidney] effects observed over the five-year period in children whose caries [cavities] were restored using dental amalgam or composite materials,” the study concluded.
The Portugese team found similar results after conducting tests of memory and attention in 507 children aged eight to 10, who were followed for seven years.
“These findings … suggest that amalgam should remain a viable clinical option in dental-restorative treatment.”
Source: cbc.ca
Something good to know. 
Recent Research Publication about safety & toxicity of dental amalgam restoration:
Neuropsychological and Renal Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children (A Randomized Clinical Trial)
David C. Bellinger, PhD, MSc; Felicia Trachtenberg, PhD; Lars Barregard, MD, PhD; Mary Tavares, DMD, MPH; Elsa Cernichiari, MS; David Daniel, PhD; Sonja McKinlay, PhD
JAMA. 2006;295:1775-1783.
Neurobehavioral Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children (A Randomized Clinical Trial)
Timothy A. DeRouen, PhD; Michael D. Martin, DMD, PhD; Brian G. Leroux, PhD; Brenda D. Townes, PhD; James S. Woods, PhD, MPH; Jorge Leitão, MD, MS; Alexandre Castro-Caldas, MD, PhD; Henrique Luis, MS; Mario Bernardo, DMD, PhD; Gail Rosenbaum, MS; Isabel P. Martins, MD, PhD
JAMA. 2006;295:1784-1792.
Mercury in Dental Amalgam—A Neurotoxic Risk?
Herbert L. Needleman, MD
JAMA. 2006;295:1835-1836.
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