Amalgam has been the most widely used dental restoration material since the inception of modern dentistry.  Amalgam restorations contain mercury, which has been linked to diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.  We understand the risks associated with mercury exposure and fortunately the development of dental materials means we have better products we can use to restore your teeth.

We practice AMALGAM FREE dentistry and also take steps to prevent the amalgam and mercury from going into the environment.

Amalgam Removal

Frequently we have to retreat teeth with amalgam restorations or even remove amalgam restorations on request.  Removal of amalgam is when the body is exposed to the most amount of mercury (along with when its initially placed).  We have taken steps to prevent exposure of this amalgam to the body and to the environment.  Below are some of the ways we do this.

Rubber dam is a technique where we use a sheet of latex free rubber to prevent the amalgam from being ingested during removal.  We place a hole into the rubber dam allowing only the teeth we are working on to protrude through the rubber dam.  The elasticity of the rubber dam forms a tight cuff around the protruded teeth thus preventing any amalgam residue from going in between the tooth and the rubber dam.

iLight Suction is a device similar to rubber dam any works by continuously suctioning all liquids and materials from the mouth.  To see a detailed description of this, please visit www.ilightsuction.com.au

Amalgam Traps are devices built into each of our dental chairs and at the suction motor that traps the removed amalgam and prevents it from going into the general waste.  This prevents exposure to the environment to un necessary mercury and thus complies to our eco friendly protocol.

Amalgam Alternatives

Dental Innovation has given the dental community superior alternatives to amalgam.  These alternatives include Glass Ionomer Cements (or GIC), Composite Resins (or CR) and Porcelain.  Porcelain is by far the longest lasting tooth coloured restorative material available.