On 9 Jun 2004 16:43:46 -0700, [email hidden] (R.M.AL Kowafi
BDS) said:I donot think that amalgam as filling material will be toxic
because that mercuray in bonded form not free form
Studies have been carried out which demonstrate experimentally that
mercury is indeed released from dental amalgams under certain
circumstances.
The abstract from the findings of one such study can be found at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=8360381
(J Dent Res. 1993 Sep;72(9):1315-9.,The effect of the electrode
potential on the release of mercury from dental amalgam.,Marek M.)
The final sentence of this abstract reads:
"The results indicate that the rate of mercury release from the gamma
1 phase of dental amalgam was not affected by potential changes due to
alloying or galvanic contacts unless the potential exceeded some
critical value."
This information could equally well have been written:
"The results indicate that the rate of mercury release from the gamma
1 phase of dental amalgam was affected by potential changes due to
alloying or galvanic contacts when the potential exceeded some
critical value."
I think that this proves that you're just another well-meaning
correspondent who doesn't really know what he is talking about.
Keith P Walsh
PS, the Marek paper indicates that there is some critical value of
electrode potential above which the rate of mercury release from the
gamma 1 phase of amalgam is affected.
Is there any member of the dental profession who knows what this
critical value is, or is this just another item in the catalogue of
the dental profession's collective ignorance?
Further enquiries regarding the electrical behavior of dental amalgams
can be found at: