Mercury-Amalgam Removal

Safe Amalgam-Removal Technology

The safety of amalgam fillings represents an increasingly controversial topic in world dentistry. Sweden, Austria, Denmark, and Norway have banned amalgam use, and the United States' FDA revoked its previously pro-amalgam stance in a landmark decision June 4, 2008. Although the American Dental Association continues to promote amalgam fillings as standard of care dentistry, the FDA's website now warns "Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses" (fda.gov).

Regardless of which side of the amalgam-safety controversy seems most reasonable to you, our goal as dental providers is to offer the safest possible removal as old amalgam fillings break down and we encourage you to research safety issues surrounding amalgam restorations for yourself. When existing amalgam fillings are mechanically intact, it must be your personal choice to have them replaced with other materials, whether for health or esthetic reasons.

For OUR Safety

For us, exposure to ambient mercury is daily, an occupational hazard. Our rubber-based masks have two filters, an outer to trap mercury particulates that can lodge in our lungs during amalgam-removal and an inner to filter mercury dust and vapor.

For YOUR Safety

  • Upon request and highly recommended: USP FOOD-GRADE, COCONUT-SHELL, ACTIVATED CHARCOAL SLURRY for rinse and swallow. Charcoal slurry, processed to meet purification standards required for medical use, absorbs toxins, drugs and poisons. Charcoal rinse/swallow prior to amalgam removal coats the oral mucosa and tongue with tasteless black powder to prevent absorption of mercury debris into soft oral tissues and the digestive tract. (Charcoal slurry also absorbs birth control pills, antibiotics, chronic disease/prescription medication, etc. ingested two hours prior or two hours post. To avoid charcoal absorption of beneficial drugs, rinse only. Charcoal does not absorb vitamin or mineral supplements.)
  • Copious use of OZONATED WATER during amalgam removal suppresses mercury vapor, particulates, and dust, trapping amalgam debris in the Clean-Up suction.
  • The flexible, self-supporting suction arm of the IQAIR DENTAL MERCURY FLEXVAC positions near your head to capture mercury vapor, particulates, and dust, reducing measurable ambient mercury debris (as well as drill aerosols, VOC's, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, dust, viruses, bacteria, and microbial contaminates) to nearly zero (iqair.us). The combination of the Clean-Up, IQAir FlexVac, and LG-2 Ionizers replaces the nose-hood that may be found in other offices.
  • LG-2 IONIZERS from AESI-Air Defense installed in the ceilings of restorative operatories capture mercury debris that escapes the Clean-Up and FlexVac. LG-2 Ionizers create a continuous electrophoresis effect, negatively ionizing ambient particles to drive them toward positively-charged field collectors that render them inert electrically. LG-2 Ionizers have been shown to reduce recordable ambient mercury levels to zero instantaneously. (LG-2 Ionizers have also been shown to trap and neutralize airborne and blood borne pathogens, bacteria, pollen, allergens, hydro-carbons, and elemental metals. They neutralize particles too small for HEPA filters, even to .001 micron.)
  • An ORA-SHIELD DENTAL DAM NAPKIN drapes facial skin.
  • A NARROW, ROUND-TIP BUR sections old amalgam fillings into the largest chunks possible, reducing release of mercury vapor, particulates, and dust.
  • Meticulous maintenance of equipment and use of ozonated water in dental lines maximize the efficiency of our technology.
  • CLEAN-UP HANDLE
    Normal use of a high-speed drill creates a spray of air, water, bacteria, pieces of amalgam mercury vapor, carious dentin, ect. Straw-type aspirators, with their limited field of suction, are not physically able to contain or prevent all of the potentially infectious aerosol and particulate from exiting the patient's mouth, whereas the unique design of Clean Up, providing a continuous aspiration of the work area, can capture and remove it all.
  • We protect the environment with the AMALGAMBOSS MERCURY SEPARATOR installed on our wastewater lines. The AmalgamBoss traps mercury-amalgam fragments before they can be released into the public water system. Approximately 64% of the mercury load on city wastewater management comes from dentistry. In fact, studies indicate that some 20 tons of mercury would not be discharged into the environment annually if every dental office had a separator installed on its water lines. Pennsylvania does not yet require amalgam separators for dental offices, but we've taken the initiative. The AmalgamBoss tests at a 99%+ capture rate to help keep municipal sludge mercury-free (marsbiomed.com).
  • In each operatory we have E. L. Foust 160DT AIR PURIFIERS. Since 1974, E. L. Foust, Inc. has manufactured AIR PURIFIERS for people with MCS,allergies,and asthma.Units utilize proven technology.Large beds of activated carbon & the most efficient HEPA filters to remove dusts,molds, pollens,viruses,bacteria,and chemicals.