Comparison of the post – amalgam filling urinary mercury levels of children treated consciously VS. unconsciously

Comparison of the post – amalgam filling urinary mercury levels of children treated consciously VS. unconsciously Dr. M. Karaminogourani* - Dr. A. Eshghi** - Dr. H. Haddadi***- Dr. M. Talebi**** *- Assistant Professor of Paedodontics Dentistry Dept. - Faculty of Dentistry – Khorasgan Islam Azad University. **- Assistant Professor of Paedodontics Dentistry Dept. - Faculty of Dentistry - Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. ***- Dentist. **** - Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dept. – Faculty of Chemistry - Isfahan University. Background and Aim: In children requiring general anesthesia for dental care, a number of teeth are treated with amalgam in one session. The aim of this study was to compare the post – amalgam filling urinary mercury levels of children treated consciously vs. unconsciously. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trail research a group of 15 children requiring the usual tooth amalgam filling in office (group A) and the other group with 15 uncooperative children requiring general anesthesia for dental treatment (group B) were selected. All research conditions were made equal for both groups. The morning urine of each child was collected and coded at three time: before treatment, 4 days after treatment and 9 – 12 days after treatment. The urinary mercury levels were measured by the cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometric method. Data were subjected to t – pair test, Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan analyses. Results: The urinary mercury levels showed a significant increase in both groups post – treatment and during the sampling times (P<0.05). The amount of increase was more in group A as compare with group B (P<0.05). No significant relationship was found between the urinary mercury levels and sex, age, weight, the number of amalgam units and amalgam filled – tooth surfaces. Conclusion: Mercury absorption following tooth amalgam filling under general anesthesia is significantly less than that of in - office treatment. Key words: General anesthesia - Mercury - Amalgam - Pediatric dentistry