Frequently Asked Questions

General

Date Posted: 1/1/2002

Question Are amalgam fillings harmful?

Answer Some people claim that the mercury in dental amalgam can cause or affect a wide range of medical conditions. In providing advice on this matter to its member dentists, the ADA draws its opinion from credible scientific and medical bodies such as the World Health Organisation and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) in Australia. The World Health Organisation and the World Dental Federation have released a joint statement confirming the safety of dental amalgam as a filling material. The NHMRC released a working party report in 1999 that looked at this issue. You can view a summary here or view the entire report at www.nhmrc.gov.au. This report concluded that: “No pivotal study has been published over the past 5-10 years providing unequivocal evidence of any hazard from the levels of mercury presently resulting from dental amalgam restorations.”

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