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Re: Dental Fillings
Thought I'd throw this out there....do you care what kind of dental fillings you get, or what materials are used?
After reading some articles a few years ago, I swore I'd never get silver (mercury) fillings again. So when I had a (white) filling done yesterday, my dentist said that the white fillings have formaldehyde in them. He maintained both were trace amounts, but still.
Anyone have any information/links on this? I also read that some "green" dentists offer BPA-free fillings, but again my dentist corrected me and said that fillings don't contain BPA (and haven't for some years) but that BPA is used in dental sealants.
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Re: Re: Dental Fillings
There are so many different dental materials out there today I can't say that I know what chemicals are contained in each of them. But from what I understand some resins (which are what white sealants and fillings are made from) may contain BPA or may produce BPA as a by-product of the setting reaction whereas others may not - so you can't really say all white fillings are this way or that way. And I believe the same is true about formaldehyde.
As for silver fillings, in case some people don't understand - they aren't made of mercury, but they do have a small amount of mercury in them. Most of the mercury is removed after the filling is burnished (this brings most of the mercury to the surface) and then carved down. Yes, there is still some amount of mercury in the filling but it's very limited.
With dental materials it's really a personal choice - there's bad stuff in amalgam and bad stuff in composite. Amalgam fillings are less technique sensitive so tend to last longer than composites but they're not as pretty so most people don't want them.
At this point in time there is no dental material that's "natural" or "eco-friendly" - they all contain chemicals - no matter if you go to a so called "green" dentist or not. Unfortunately once you get a cavity there's no going back and undoing it, so you just have to make the choice that makes you happiest.