AMALGAM for Dental Fillings

An amalgam is any mixture or blending of mercury with another metal or with an alloy. Most metals are soluble in mercury, but some (such as iron) are not. Amalgams are commonly used in dental fillings.

For some centuries dentists have been cleaning out decay and creating dental fillings, using filling material such as stone chips, resin, cork, turpentine, gum, lead and gold leaf. The renowned physician Ambroise Paré (1510 – 1590) used lead or cork to fill teeth. Amalgams were the first true standard filling material.

Mercury amalgams were used in dentistry because they were cheap, easy to use, durable, and regarded as safe. Modern low-copper amalgams have a powder component composed of 69.4%silver, 3.6%copper, 26.2%tin, and 0.8%Zinc, they have a liquid component of 42% to 45%mercury by weight. There is an ongoing discussion about the use of mercury in dentistry due to the toxic content of amalgams. Amalgam fillings have been shown to increase mercury blood levels. Even though mercury is considered to be a very potent neurotoxin, mercury fillings are still considered safe by most dentists.

Others, though, have quite a different take on mercury amalgam in dental fillings and contend that its safety is anything but certain. Says toxicologist Alan Stern, a contributor to a 2000 United States National Research Council report on mercury toxicity "It’s really unclear what’s going on with dental amalgams...It’s a snake pit". He also notes that "the issue is complicated by the potential for panic and lawsuits". IAOMT or the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology has put together a report which is, they say, "a review of the scientific evidence demonstrating significant exposure to mercury and resulting physiological harm from dental amalgam"
Reference at Source: wikipedia