The International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) is raising awareness of a systematic review indicating a wide variety of common activities significantly accelerates the release of mercury from amalgam dental fillings.
The results of the study—published in the Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering—found that exposure to static magnetic fields (SMF) such as those generated by MRI, electromagnetic fields (EMF) such as those produced by wi-fi and mobile phones; ionising electromagnetic radiations such as X-rays and non-ionising electromagnetic radiation such as lasers and light cure devices can all significantly increase the release of mercury from amalgam restorations and/or cause microleakage.
The study authors conclude that “specific groups such as children, fertile women, elderly and hypersensitive individuals may be at risk”. These concerns mirror the Food and Drug Administrations 2020 amalgam warnings to avoid dental amalgam in these high-risk populations.
Previous studies have found that even one amalgam dental filling can exceed the minimum risk level for mercury. The mercury from dental amalgam fillings has been associated with a wide variety of adverse health effects, especially demyelination.
“Considering the mountain of scientific evidence showing harm by the mercury released from amalgam dental fillings, it’s therefore important for patients with dental amalgam fillings to either avoid future mercury fillings or have them safely removed by an IAOMT dentist certified in the Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique (SMART),” IAOMT president David Edwards said.
“These findings have huge implications for both patient safety and public health.”
