Two Schools of Thought When It Comes to Metal Fillings
( Air Date: 3/1/2005 )
Could the silver fillings in your mouth be doing more harm than good?

Two dentists with two different schools of thought, addressed those
concerns in a KBTV4 special report.

More and more, dentists like Dr. Tri Le are removing and replacing
amalgam with composite fillings.

The Port Arthur dentist says most patients request composite fillings
for cosmetic reasons, but some are concerned about the safety of
amalgam.

Patients are concerned because a component in amalgam is mercury. Some
physicians believe the mercury in metal fillings is a contributing
factor to many degenerative diseases.

"That`s a big controversy, let`s put it that way," Le tells KBTV. "The
FDA still has not outlawed silver fillings... ...If you look at a
mercury content and how mercury is released in the mouth, the amount
is very small, and that`s why the material is still legal to use."

Although Dr. Le believes you can eat fish and end up with more mercury
than from amalgam, he also believes patients with amalgam fillings
should have them removed.

"If you can get rid of a lot of mercury fillings in the mouth
properly," Le says, "that`s the way to go, especially because we live
in this area, there`s a lot of pollution. If you can get rid of a lot
of mercuries, that`d be better. Even though the release of mercury
fillings is very small, there can be some harm. There`s no proof of
that, otherwise, it would have been banned already."

Unlike Dr. Le, who hasn`t used amalgam in over five years, other area
dentists are still using the material as an alternative to composite
fillings.

"If a patient asks for amalgam fillings, we`re going to do one for
them," says Beaumont dentist Alan Coleman. "Studies have shown you
have to have almost 500 amalgam in your mouth before any mercury gets
to a level that affects you healthwise."

Doctor Alan Coleman has practiced dentistry in Beaumont for 21 years.
He says he will remove and replace amalgam fillings for cosmetic
reasons, but not for patients who are strictly concerned about
potential health risks associated with the material.

"If they wanted their fillings removed, I would do that for them,"
Coleman tells KBTV. "But not specifically for those reasons, because a
study just came out that multiple sclerosis and alzheimers were not
made worse because you had mercury filling in your mouth.

Coleman, who says 98% of fillings done today are composite, believes
amalgam is a permanent fixture in dentistry.

"I don`t think amalgam will ever be phased out," Coleman tells KBTV.
"It`s an alternative to a patient, less expensive, plenty durable, it
will always be there."