Jan
If you are like many Americans over the age of 25, there is a good chance you might have a filling or two inside your mouth prepared and applied using an amalgam material. This is where a biological dentist for amalgam removal in Cary can help. Specifically, an amalgam is a combination of metals that, for years, included mercury. Amalgam fillings stand out from modern fillings in that they are dark, metallic, and even look a bit like silver when light is applied. The old procedure of using metals has been around for most of the 20th century because metal was malleable in application and durable for years inside someone’s tooth.
Unfortunately, amalgams also include metal materials that fundamentally can be harmful to one’s health. As an amalgam, the risk was considered small as long as the filling stayed in place. The risk rises, however, as the filling wears down, becomes exposed, or comes loose. Modern fillings do not use amalgam materials at all. Instead, they are ceramic in nature or use similar non-metal material for the same purpose. They also look a lot more like a real tooth versus one filled with pockmarks of dark metal material.
The federal government has estimated that a typical amalgam includes 50 percent metals and 50 percent mercury in terms of chemistry. Mercury is naturally toxic to humans and can cause extreme poisoning very quickly. This normally happens in vapor form, and the brain and kidneys are the most susceptible to the poisoning effect. No surprise, dentists have been advising patients to remove their amalgam fillings for years. While the fillings themselves are in solid form, the simple presence of mercury remains a risk and should be addressed.
Removal of an old amalgam filling involves carefully isolating and extracting the old filling material to ensure none of it falls loose or is breathed in or ingested by the patient. Dentist staff also take precautions to guarantee they are not exposed to dust or minute flakes created during the removal process. The benefits are multiple:
If you have old fillings and they are even remotely dark or silvery in nature, there is a very good chance they are mercury-filled amalgams. As a biological dentist amalgam removal Cary resource, Holistic Dental Centers can help. We have been helping patients for years remove old amalgams and replace them with cosmetically-appealing ceramic and similar fillings that work just as well, if not better. They are also far less of a risk to have than retaining old mercury-based fillings. Give us a call at [phone1] to set up an initial appointment and review by our mercury removal dentist specialists. Mercury has long been a toxic risk to people. Don’t carry it in your mouth longer than you need to.