Safe Mercury Amalgam Filling Removal From The Teeth Now Easier

Secondary decay in the tooth and marginal leakage

Once a filling is placed in a tooth, a secondary decay may develop underneath it. While preparing a tooth for an amalgam filling, dentists need to make undercuts. This is because no direct bond exists between amalgam and the structure of the tooth and thus it is only the undercuts that help the filling to stay in its place, explains a dentist in London. As the natural structure of the tooth gets altered because of the treatment the tooth becomes weak and in course of time even becomes prone to develop fractures and cracks.

Now that we have some clear idea about secondary tooth decay from the paragraph above, let us now shift the focus on mercury removal. As such approaches to safe mercury removal and mercury amalgam replacement start with developing a clear concept about the metal mercury and how it is harmful for man.

Mercury is found in its liquid state in normal conditions although it is a metal. The silvery looking liquid metal becomes potentially deadly in its gas or vapour form. Liquid mercury can be seen with naked eyes but in its vapour and gaseous states the substance remains completely invisible tour eyes. And this makes it even more dangerous. According to scientists mercury vapour is one of the most toxic substances known till date.

Tissues rich in fat are present all over our body. As such these tissues form the lining of every cell membrane and are particularly found in the nerve tissues present in the brain. Mercury in its vapour readily combines with these tissues rich in fat. Because of bacterial activity in our body and particularly in the mouth certain substances that we eat easily turns to sulphur and when mercury vapour combines with sulphur it becomes more deadly methyl mercury explain dentists who provide amalgam removal in London for years together. Because of all these palpable threats to human health and body, mercury removal from the tooth in necessary and the removal procedure must be handled carefully so that adversity involved in the removal process causes as less harm as possible.

Thankfully there are safety protocols to follow as well as specific ways of assessing a patient to protect him or her from the toxic exposure as much as possible.  

It is relevant mentioning in the ongoing context that there is yet no ideal filling material for your decayed tooth although the three mostly used filling materials to replace mercury amalgams are as following –

• Porcelain or composite inlays
• Gold inlays and
• Direct placed composites

Each of its filling options has its own pros and cons. By all probability, the most preferred option among the three is direct-placed composite which offers a handful of benefits unlike the other two which include durability or long lastingness, reasonably priced and good handling characteristic.

Once the mercury amalgam removal procedure is over a patient should be under necessary precautions for about 3 months. During this timeline the toxic metal actually gets excreted from the body. If you had large mercury filling which is removed you may experience little sensitivity in the tooth particular to hot and cold food items and drinks. Otherwise there is usually no such difficulty to face during this time.  

Now let us quickly go through the existing guidelines on safe removal of mercury amalgam fillings in the section below.

Mercury amalgam fillings – safe removal guidelines

A lot of heat gets generated while drilling out amalgam filling from the tooth. This leads to release of significant quantity of mercury in both vapour form as well as amalgam particles. In order to control or minimise heat generation dentists keep cooling the filling from time to time with air and water while drilling on it. According to dentists in London, amalgam filling removal procedures thus generate much lesser volumes of mercury vapour during the entire removal procedure.

Usually dentists all over the world including the United Kingdom follow a procedure called chunking to remove harmful mercury fillings from the teeth. The best thing about this procedure is it involves much less drilling than the other removal options. In this method dentists only have to drill enough to cut a filling into a number of chunks. These chunks are then safely cleared away using suction or a hand instrument. It is important to keep the filling cool even throughout the chunking procedure to make patients less vulnerable to the toxic substance.

Usually dentists who contribute to the mercury-safe cause use more powerful suctions than pro-amalgam dentists. A powerful suction often proves to be the most crucial tool to minimise the exposure of patients to toxic mercury vapour and even amalgam particles during the removal procedure. It is important to make sure that throughout the length of the filling removal procedure, the evacuator tip must be placed within ½ inch of the filling. This way it becomes both easy and possible to capture more of the toxic vapour as well as amalgam particles. According to a dentist who provides amalgam filling removal near me for years together says it is important to provide patients with an alternative source of air while removing mercury amalgam fillings from the tooth.

Once the existing mercury filling is removed and the tooth is being prepared for the new filling which is safe for health there is no need for an alternate source of air. The alternate air source is also not necessary while the new filling is being placed. However at the time of removing the existing amalgam filling it is better to provide a patient through which the person can breathe. The source of breathing air must be a source outside the dentist’s office, oxygen from a cylinder or compressed air from a tank. Breathing must be done only through the nose and not the mouth during the entire procedure of mercury amalgam removal.

Removal of mercury amalgam should not be carried out while one is pregnant. It should also be avoided while one is nursing her newly born baby.  

Thing to remember for patients

Patients while undergoing mercury amalgam filling removal in London procedure should always focus on breathing through the nose and not the mouth during the entire procedure. It does not matter whether your dentist makes use of rubber dam or not. Breathing through the nose is particularly crucial when there is no alternative source of air present.

One of the most assured places in and around London to undergo safe mercury amalgam filling removal is the Smile Clinic London. The practice is located on the Old Brompton Road and provides thorough and reliable treatments to a range of oral health issues using the latest dental technology and infrastructure.