Dr. Isabelle Farmer is a practicing dentist at Houston SmileDocs in Texas. A graduate of Texas A&M University and the University of Texas Dental School, she went on to start her dental practice in 1984. Here she explains what it means to be a mercury-free dentist.
I personally have not done a mercury filling on a patient in 17 1/2 years. However, there is still a lot of controversy in dentistry about whether it is best to use mercury inside the mouths of patients, and some dentists are still choosing to do so.
The original reason that I turned away from doing mercury fillings was that I had a major concern, as a dentist, about mixing that material in my practice every day. When you mix that material inside a room, what you are doing is releasing mercury gasses into the air, which we were all breathing at the practice every day. I personally considered that hazardous, and I thought it was a bad idea. After all, at this point we know that mercury is, after radioactive material, the most toxic material known to man. So why would any dentist want to inhale those gasses day in and day out?
There is still debate over the topic within dentistry circles. But my opinion is that if you have a material that you can use that works just as well—and if patients can afford the alternative option, because it can ultimately be more expensive to use than mercury—then as a dentist, you should not be putting mercury in a patient’s mouth. That’s just my personal opinion.
Outside of my practice, a lot of dentists still choose to use mercury. The truth of the matter is, those silver mercury fillings they are using are inexpensive to place. They also happen to be much easier to place, on the part of the dentist, than the alternatives. For example, if the alternative substance gets wet, then it won’t work for the filling. So dentists who are choosing not to use mercury are being forced to be much more careful and precise with the alternative options.
I would say that for babies, using mercury fillings does make sense in some cases. That is because the baby teeth won’t stay in the mouth for an extended period of time. So a mercury filling is likely to be a reliable, low-cost option to put in the mouth of a young child. But even at that point, this is still a controversial topic and a lot of debate is going on among dentists as to the best course of treatment.
Another problem I see with mercury fillings is that over time, they will split the tooth just like a wedge. As you chew over time, what happens is the filling splits the tooth. This is a great example of why a lot of people down the road need root canals—their tooth splits, their nerves get damaged, and they need further help. It is common for those with a split in their mouth to have their teeth decay, because that is an area where bacteria can get in to damage the tooth.
So over the long term, for adult teeth, I personally believe you are much better off using a more modern, composite material for fillings rather than mercury silver. As long as the filling is done properly, I believe that the composite material puts patients in a far better position than the mercury.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
