The aim of this study is to present data concerning hazardous waste management in the health area, with emphasis to the utilization of mercury in dentistry. The study was based on a bibliographic review regarding the use of mercury in dental fillings and its potential toxicological risks for patients and due to occupational exposure. The studies also take into consideration national and interna...

OBJECTIVE To compare survival rates and cost differentials between the atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) technique and amalgams by type of dental personnel in Ecuador, Panama, and Uruguay. METHODS Children 7 to 9 years of age in rural and urban schools with at least one lesion with initial cavitated enamel caries or a dentinal lesion on a first permanent molar were selected and randomize...

There has long been an undercurrent within the dental profession of anti-amalgam sentiment, a "mercury-free" movement. To assess whether anything is or is not scientifically wrong with amalgam, one must look to the vast literature on exposure, toxicology, and risk assessment of mercury. The subject of risk assessment goes straight to the heart of the debate over whether a malgam is safe, or not...

BACKGROUND Dental amalgam is a source of elemental and inorganic mercury. The safety of dental amalgam in individuals remains a controversial issue. Urinary mercury concentrations are used to assess chronic exposure to elemental mercury. At present, there are no indications of mercury-associated adverse effects at levels below 5 μg Hg/g creatinine (Cr) or 7 μg Hg/L (urine). The purpose of the p...

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), factors such as growing electricity demand, ever-advancing technologies and changes in social behaviour have led to steadily increasing exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields.  Dental amalgam fillings are among the major sources of exposure to elemental mercury vapour in the general population. Although it was previously believed that low l...

introduction : the purpose of this clinical study was to compare the blood mercury levels before and after endodontic surgery using amalgam as a root-end filling material. materials and methods: fourteen patients requiring periradicular surgery participated in this prospective clinical study. a zinc-free amalgam was employed as root-end filling material. blood samples were collected at three in...

The mercury content in hair, for exposed dental workers and unexposed groups of people living in Albania was studied. The influence of factors such as age, sex, body weight, fish consumption in the diet, number of dental amalgam fillings and time exposed to mercury, was determined. The mean value of mercury content in hair for the subjects under study (0.705 microg/g) was found to be lower than...