Mercury in Fillings?

[Twoboos]

DH is convinced DD1 has a cavity. Note that he is NOT a dentist, nor does he play one on tv. (She has a real dentist appt in a few weeks.)

So, DH freaked and said she would not be allowed to get a filling if it's a cavity, b/c they have mercury. I thought they didn't make them w/mercury anymore?

Also, DD is 4. Will they put her out completely if she in fact does need a filling? (I am ready to throw up at the thought....)

TIA.

[Tondi G]

Just get the white filling... the silver amalgum (sp?) fillings are the ones with the Mercury!

It all depends on the filling. Some are minimal and it'll be over quick... if it was something more in depth they might opt to put her under! Many dentists can also give her some Laughing Gas to help her relax. A friend of ours DD needed a filling and she wasn't knocked out (but she was also 5 at the time). Her mom said she was amazed at how well the doctor explained and helped her DD not freak out and how well her daughter handled it!

Don't stress about it till you've been to the Dentist and know for sure one way or the other! Are you seeing a regular dentist or a pediatric dentist? If she ends up needing a filling you might want to seek out a dentist that works specifically with kids!

~Tondi

[brittone2]

The silver ones are the fillings that contain mercury. The white ones (composite) do contain bisphenol A (BPA), which isn't the best either, but I'd take that over mercury.

You can call in advance and ask them what they'll use. You can also always specify that you want composite, not an amalgam. Some doctors find that patients have more sensitivity with the composite afterward because it is harder to get placed exactly right without space around it that causes sensitivity (at least, I think that's what DH's dentists have told him?) There are doctors that are more comfortable with composites than others, and I've heard the more composite fillings they are used to doing, they sometimes have better success.

There are also some composite filling materials that are lower in BPA than others. You can call in advance and discuss that with them. If they aren't familiar, they can look it up online in their journals. I don't know the names of the lower-BPA materials off the top of my head, but I know I've seen dental literature that discusses how much leaches and amounts.

http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/115/healthnews
http://www.springerlink.com/content/djjmxyd0p53c9plj/

if you read up on some of the names BPA may be called (BADGE is one that the greenguide references I believe), you can also ask to look on the MSDS (material safety data sheet) for any materials they want to use. Pretty much all composites have *some* BPA. But some have more than others.

ETA: DS had his first cavity filled when he was young. LIke 17-18 months? It was on the back of one of his front teeth, and shallow, so they didn't do novacaine or put him under. I think a lot of docs will use nitrous oxide for kids once they are a bit older. I think it varies dentist to dentist a lot too. DS has done very well with his. He's had to have it redone about 4-5 x now because of the location...it gets dislodged pretty easily. (he's almost 4). The best experiences we've had are when we hold him in our lap, and tip him back into the dentist's lap. Not all kids will hold still like that, but he will. Whenever they've put him in the chair, he gets more panicked, and we've had to hold him down, which was then more anxiety provoking for him. But every single time we've just done it in our laps, no tears at all (and that's without nitrous or novacaine, but admittedly, it is a very shallow cavity).

You might want to look into xylitol. We don't do fluoride, but I think xylitol has helped DS. We use spry toothpaste and gum for him.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nihttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=12119821&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17263856&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=8860027&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus

[DrSally]

yes, just get the composite if you do need a filling. I have had some amalgam fillings that cracked and replaced with composite. Both have had to be redone several times b/c of sensitivity though. I too have heard that fillings in kids can be really shallow so that you might not even need novicane. I am interested in the Xylitol pp mentioned too since I don't want to do flouride either.