If you were fond of candies and sweets as a kid and never listened to your mother’s warnings about eating too much of them, then you are likely to have suffered from tooth decay by now. These days, it’s a good thing dental fillings are standard dental procedure.
Probably, you would have already lost that affected tooth earlier than expected. Dental fillings close off spaces created by tooth decay, restoring the normal form and function of teeth.
It will also keep bacteria away to prevent the decay from getting worse. It’s relatively cheaper than most dental procedures.
So, if tooth decay is already starting to eat away at any of your teeth, waste no time in visiting a dental clinic in your neighborhood dental office.
What are Amalgam Fillings?
Amalgam fillings are frequently called “silver fillings.” Dental amalgam is a mixture of mercury, silver, tin and copper.
Mercury, which makes up about 50% of the compound, binds the metals together to provide a strong, durable filling. When combined with the other metals, the mercury in fillings forms a stable compound. This type of filling has been around since 1895.
Here are some of the reasons why you should not have dental amalgam put into your mouth.
Amalgam fillings contain mercury
Amalgam fillings may be the cheapest dental filling material available today – which explains their popularity. However, the fact mercury is among its ingredients should make you avoid it.
You don’t need to have aced your chemistry courses in school to know that mercury is a highly toxic element. People who already have amalgam fillings will likely chew a tiny amount of mercury every now and then, and it will be released into their bodies.
That will make them a prime candidate for mercury poisoning, which is as bad as it sounds.
Amalgam Fillings Expand and Contract
Amalgam fillings are essentially metal fillings, and metals have the capacity of expanding or contracting depending on the temperature.
So if you have metal fillings in your teeth, you can expect a certain amount of discomfort or even pain when that happens. Worse, all that expanding can weaken your tooth’s structure and may eventually break.
Amalgam Fillings require Removal of Tooth Healthy Parts
Amalgam fillings need a space that is big enough to hold it. So if your tooth has a small cavity, the dentist will have to chip away at a healthy tooth structure to create that space.
Galvanic Shock
Assuming you go for amalgam fillings for one tooth today with one dentist, and have the tooth next to it filled with the same sometime in the future with a different dental professional.
If one day, you suddenly feel what could only be described as an electric charge inside your mouth, then you just experienced galvanic shock, and it will likely happen from time to time.
You will experience galvanic shock when two metal amalgam fillings of dissimilar metal composition come in contact with each other. This is what happens when two different dentists installed the fillings, because the composition of their individual fillings may vary.
These are just some of the reasons why you shouldn’t have amalgam fillings put in your mouth. If you want to know some more, check out the infographic below.
With proper dental care and hygiene at an early age, your child can avoid tooth decay and have a healthy set of teeth till old age. It’s never too early to start caring for your child’s teeth.
