I

ACTA ODONTOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA

I -- Volumen 15. Supplementum 22
From The Department of Operative Dentittry (Head: Proreuor Gøsta ", eøtiu).
The Royal Schoolof Dentistry t Sto('kholm

ON

MERCtj"RY FROM DENTAL AMALGA~I

ITS T()XIC AND ALLEHGICEFFEC'fS
AND SOME COMMENTS ON

OCCUPATIONAL flYGlENE

BY

KARL O. FRYKHOLM
1"

$TOCKHOLM 1957
-- -
WAen fWt1Øri1lf COfYPU ømø1øam
.. ø. opø Ipoon0Wf' a 114me,
,----

a method
recommended in current teohnical manualø. considerable amountø of
mercury vapour are given off: > 3 mg Hglml air waø meaaured about 10
cm above the spoon. Often the nuree holda pellets over the flame, with a
forcepø. The heating lø continued unti! fine drops of mercury are 8weated
out on the øurface of the peIlet& Then foJlowatrituration in &mortar and
kneading in the palm of the hand. In order to avoid too much mercnry
vapour being releaaed, the copper amalgam øhould not be prepared in this
way, but preferably under 8 ventiIated hood with good exbauøtion. As a.
ventilated hood is but øeld.om avail&ble, copper amalgam pelletø can,
inøtead, be heated in &lang te8t-iube held obliquely over the flame, the
open end being cloeed with & cotton plog. The plog preventø ot' greatly
diminiøhes the escape of mercary vapour from the test-tube. The mercury
condenøeøon the waJlsof the cooler part of the teøt-tube.
 ..

Capper Alnalgam
Due to the relative instability and are middle-aged adults who still
.solubility of copper, dental amal. have high copper amalgam in their
gams with a high coppcr content teeth (see also pa~e 26).
are very suseeptible to eorrosion.
111emore copper the more corro. In 1981,the authorities in Norway
sive the ;naterial. recommended that copper amal-
gam should not be used, but accor-
Extensivelyused during the 1950's, ding to an investigation made by
1960's and 1970's, the se. IJighcoppcr the hcalth authorities, single den-
amalgams consist of approx. 30 % tistscontinued to use copperamal-
copper, 66-70 % mercury and gams until 1993. It was banned in
additional small amounts of other 1987in Sweden, and in Germany
metals such as 1,5 % cadmium. it was also recommended that
copper amalgam be replaced with
Copper amalgam is dclivered in other types of amalgam. In the
metal pieceswhich are heated over USA, however, copper amalgam
an open flame. Liquid mercury was only used to a very limited
manifests itsdf on the surface at a degree.
temperature of96°C.and the metal
mixture is then ground. Liquid
mercury can be observed on the
filling up to 24 hours after place-
ment. During the heating, large
amounts of mereury are released.

Copper amalgam is extremely

corrosive. The material isalso very
technique sensitive and careless
handling by the dentist can cause
accelerated corrosion. According
to NIOM (Nordic Institute for
Odontological Material Testing)
the mercury up take can in extreme
cases be up to 6,3 mg/24 hours,
which is 100 times more than the
averagedissolution from more mo-
dem types of dental amalgam. It is
150 times higher than the recom-
mended WHO limit value. High
material loss after one year has
been reported.

Due to its' extreme instability,

copper amalgam was mainly used
to treat children' s teeth. The strong
liberation of metal ions had a
bactericide effect - caries bacteria
could not survive in that environ-
ment. However, it was also used as
an alternative material for more
permanent fillings. Some patients
kept the"fillingsfor 7-8years before
extraction. In New Zealand, there