Recent studies by the World Health Organisation (WHO) have discovered that even very low doses of mercury exposure from dental amalgam fillings causes a significant risk of developmental disorders such as Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in children whose mothers experienced antenatal exposure.

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin; it doesn’t take much to cause serious damage because it is an absolute poison. If you were to take the amount of mercury in a typical thermometer and put it in a small lake, that lake would be closed due to environmental hazards.

Amalgam or ‘silver fillings’ are made of 50% mercury so with this frightening fact in mind, why are amalgam fillings so routinely recommended by dentists?

As we know amalgam fillings have been routinely referred to as ‘silver fillings’ by general dentists. The idea behind this was to lead patients to believe that amalgam fillings were basically silver. However amalgam itself actually contains twice as much mercury as silver!

In the early 90’s, the American Dental Association even had a ‘gag order’ of sorts preventing dentists from even using the word mercury when discussing amalgam fillings with patients. In 2016, we know better and amalgam fillings are becoming obsolete thanks to much safer alternatives. Porcelain inlays and composite (white) fillings offer patients (particularly expectant mothers) a healthy, conservative and aesthetic solution to treat dental decay and reassuringly, avoid any nasty side effects.