Mercury Safe Dentistry

At Virtue Dental Care, our patient’s health and well-being are very important to us. This is why we provide mercury safe dentistry as well as safe mercury removal in our general dentistry practice.

Over the years, many dentists have used silver amalgam fillings for patients who had cavities. However, mercury removal can expose both the patient and dentist to the negative effects of mercury, so special protocols must be followed to ensure the protection and safety of everyone during the mercury removal process. Mercury toxicity can occur when the metal is heated, and is present in the vapors that are released during the process. For this reason, a standard protocol MUST be followed by dentists for the ultimate in safety and protection.

Virtue Dental Care follows the safety protocol set forth by the IAOMT (International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology), which was developed to be the best way to protect both dentist and patient from mercury toxicity during the removal of silver amalgam fillings. No system is considered one hundred percent effective, but by following IAOMT standards, most risks are eliminated or reduced.

IAOMT standards require that certain steps be taken for safety, including:

• The use of a high volume vacuum that is used to pull away mercury vapors
• Oxygen use as an air source
• The use of a vinyl dam in the patient’s mouth
• The use of ionizers in the room that can be used to remove mercury vapors not caught by the vacuum
• The use of HEPA and carbon filters
• Staff use of mercury respirators
• The use of a mercury separator for wastewater, which can reduce mercury content by 99 percent
• The use of a vitamin C and n-acetylcysteine rinse by the patient before and after their silver amalgam fillings are removed to reduce mercury absorption