Professional Dental Care

                                 for the Whole Family

A lifelong Fort Worth resident, Dr. Gary C. Morton has practiced general dentistry in Fort Worth since 1974.

Dr. Gary C. Morton is an

Active Member of the

American Dental Association

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Dental Hygiene Tips

Amalgam Safety

Anyone worried about possible health risks from mercury fillings can relax as respected members of the scientific and health community weigh in on the side of amalgam safety. The American Dental Association quotes scientists in supporting continued use of the material, saying that mercury fillings only rarely cause problems - and then only in people with mercury allergies.

"To reach a level of mercury exposure that might cause the slightest sub-clinical effect in the most sensitive individual, that person’s mouth would need to have 450 to 530 amalgam surfaces," the ADA News quotes Rod Mackert, DMD, PhD, of Medical College of Georgia as saying. "Sub-clinical effects" are not detectable by the usual clinical tests. Furthermore, he says, "allergy to mercury or other metals in amalgam is extremely rare and is evidenced by local side effects, such as would be typical of other allergic reactions."

Robert Baratz, MD, DDS, PhD and president of the National Council Against Health Fraud, supported this view in Time magazine. The mercury in amalgam is mixed with silver, tin and copper, metals to which it bonds chemically to form a safe alloy.

More support recently came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which reported that "there is scant evidence that the health of a vast majority of people with amalgam is compromised."

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