• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.115-122
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• 1980

The corrosion of silver amalgam is regarded as one of major causes in the failures of dental amalgam restorations. To evaluate the corrosion resistance of dental amalgam alloys, electrochemical tests such as potential and polarization measurement were used widely. But these commonly used methods have not provided the sufficient informations on relative resistance of amalgam to corrosion. In this experiment, the corrosion currents were measured using electronic potentiostat to compare some commercial dental amalgam alloys. All alloys were triturated in a amalgamator and condensed into a mold described in A.D.A. Specification No. 1 to produce cylinder form specimens of 4mm diameter by 5mm long. After specimen kept for 1 week at $37^{\circ}C$, each specimen was embedded in epoxy resin. The surfaces of specimens were then polished with a emery paper, diamond dust, and $Al_2O_3$. These specimens were immersed in artifical saliva kept at $37^{\circ}C$, and currents of each specimen were measured for 24 hours at 0.0volt (SCE). The author obtained conclusions as follows: 1. High copper amalgam showed superior resistance against corrosion to conventional amalgam, but a pellet form of high copper amalgam seemed to be susceptible to corrosion. 2. In lathe-cut alloys, fine-cut had superior resistance against corrosion to regular-cut. 3. Non-zinc conventional amalgam alloys were more resistant to corrosion than that of zinc containing conventional amalgam alloys. 4. In both of high copper and conventional amalgams, predispensed forms tended to have better resisitance to corrosion than that of pellet forms.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.373-380
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• 2023

Background: The association between dental amalgam fillings and urine mercury concentrations was investigated in this study to assess the health risks associated with dental amalgams. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 99 women in their 20s who visited the dental clinic in Daegu, Korea. The 99 participants were composed of 68 subjects who had dental amalgam fillings (exposure group) and 31 subjects who did not have dental amalgam fillings (nonexposure group). Oral examinations were conducted by a single dental hygienist, sociodemographic features were investigated as confounding variables, and urine mercury concentrations were measured using an automatic mercury analyzer. Results: The mean±standard deviation of the urine mercury concentrations of the exposure and nonexposure groups were 1.50±1.78 ㎍/g creatinine and 0.53±0.63 ㎍/g creatinine, respectively. The exposure group showed significantly higher levels than the nonexposure group (p<0.01). The urine mercury concentration significantly increased with an increase in the number of teeth filled with amalgam, cavity surfaces involved, and number of defective amalgam fillings, and according to the latest exposure time (p<0.001). In the multiple regression analysis of amalgam-related factors and urine mercury concentrations after correction for confounding factors, the urine mercury concentration in the group with six or more amalgam-filled teeth, 11 or more cavity surfaces, and two or more defective amalgams was significantly higher than that in the nonexposure group (p<0.001). Conclusion: According to this study, exposure to dental amalgams was confirmed to significantly affect urine mercury concentrations.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.253-258
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• 2012

Dental amalgam is an alloy composed of a mixture of approximately equal parts of elemental liquid mercury and an alloy powder. Amalgam has been the most popular and effective restorative material used in dentistry. Despite the long history and popularity of dental amalgam as a restorative material, there have been periodic concerns regarding the potential adverse health effects arising from exposure to mercury in amalgam. Since children are more at risk for mercury toxicity, we aimed to assess the association between dental amalgam filling and urinary mercury concentration in children. 581 of elementary school children in grades 1st4th were conveniently recruited from two schools located in Daegu city, Korea. To obtain dental caries experience states, oral examination were conducted using the full term for DFS index, number of amalgam filling surfaces and the type of filling materials. A questionnaire was used to collect information about general characteristics and the frequencies of tooth brushing, gum chewing and fish/seafood consumption. The statistical analysis was done using the SPSS 18.0 program. The mean urinary mercury concentration in children having more surfaces was highest. As a results Urinary mercury concentration of children who have 79 teeth of amalgam filling and more than 10 is higher than without amalgam filling. The number of amalgam filling surface is closely related with urinary mercury concentration.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.90-98
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• 2011

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of urinary mercury and analyze which factors would affect urinary mercury concentration among dental hygienists in dental clinics. Methods: This study conducted by questionnaire and detection of urinary mercury concentration of 268 dental hygienists working in dental clinics from July to August of 2009. Data collected from two hundred and thirty-five dental hygienists were analyzed by the geometric mean (GM). Analytical results of urine samples with less than 0.3 g creatinine/L and greater than 3g creatinine/L were excluded from statistical analysis. Results: Urinary mercury concentration of 235 dental hygienists showed the geometric distribution. The arithmetic and geometric means of urinary mercury concentration were $0.996{\mu}g/g$ creatinine and $0.755{\mu}g/g$ creatinine, respectively. From multiple regression analysis, the number of amalgam filling, the consumption frequency of raw fish and the number of amalgam handling in current workplace was revealed as increasing factors of urinary mercury concentration. Conclusions: The level of urinary mercury in dental hygienists was higher than in general Korean population. The number of amalgam filling, the consumption frequency of raw fish and the number of amalgam handling in current workplace was revealed as increasing factors of urinary mercury concentration. Therefore using resin materials instead of amalgam in dental clinics is highly desirable.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2014

This study aims to evaluate the impact of varying exposure to dental amalgam on urinary mercury levels in children by measuring the number of amalgam-filled teeth and the variance of mercury concentration in urine over a period of 2 years. A total of 317 (male 158, female 159) elementary school children (1st~4th graders) attending 2 schools in urban regions participated in this study. At 6-month intervals, 4 oral examinations were conducted to check any variance in the conditions of dental caries and the status of dental fillings. Also, urine tests were conducted followed by a questionnaire survey. To elucidate the factors potentially affecting the mercury concentration in urine, t-test, ANOVA, chi-square test and a mixed model were used for the analysis. Regarding the status of dental fillings in line with examination time periods, deciduous teeth had more amalgam-filled surfaces than those filled with resin, whereas permanent teeth had more resin-filled surfaces than those filled with amalgam. A significant relevance was found between the exposure to dental amalgam and urinary mercury levels. Specifically, subjects whose teeth surfaces had been filled with dental amalgam showed higher urinary mercury levels than those who had no dental amalgam fillings. Based on the analysis using the mixed model, the increase in the number of teeth surfaces filled with amalgam was found to be the factor affecting the increase in urinary mercury levels. The urinary mercury levels were found to be highly associated with the exposure to dental amalgam. The more the teeth surfaces filled with amalgam, the higher the urinary mercury levels. Hence, even a trace of dental amalgam fillings can liberate mercury, affecting the variance in the urinary mercury levels. These findings suggest that some criteria or measures should be developed to minimize the exposure to dental amalgam. Moreover, relevant further studies are warranted.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.425-430
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• 2014

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between amalgam restorations and urinary mercury levels in children for 1 year. Amalgam restoration has been widely used for over 200 years. But released mercury from amalgam can increase the concentration of mercury in the body. Methods : The subjects were 463 elementary school children. Oral examination, urine sampling, and questionnaire survey were performed at baseline and after 1 year. Results : Amalgam restoration increased the urinary mercury level to $0.55{\pm}0.13{\mu}g/g$ creatinine. In the regression analysis, variation of urinary mercury excretion were positively associated with amalgam surfaces and fish consumption. Conclusions : Small amount of mercury release from amalgam restoration was closely associated with increasing urinary mercury level.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.531-540
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• 2010

Objectives : In this study, following the cavity restorations with low copper conventional alloy, high copper admixed one and high copper unicompositional one, which are used the most frequently in a clinical setting at the present, to experiment the time-dependent changes of strength, bubbles were examined. Besides, to examine the detrimental effects of mercury contained in dental amalgam, the amount of mercury release was evaluated. Methods : As dental amalgams which were used herein, [BESTALOY], [Hi-Aristaloy 21] and [Sybraloy] were selected for a low-copper conventional amalgam, a high-copper admixed one and a high-copper unicompositional one in the corresponding order. The formation of bubbles and the weight ratio of mercury release were evaluated using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). Thus, the following results were obtained: Results : 1. The time-dependent amount of mercury release reached a statistical significance in three types of alloys, which was shown in such a descending order as [BESTALOY], [Hi-Aristaloy 21] and [Sybraloy]. 2. A low-copper conventional type, BESTALOY is a cutting type and it was found to have an increased formation of fine bubbles. In the remaining two types, [Hi-Aristaloy 21] (a high-copper admixed alloy) and [Sybraloy] (a high-copper unicompositional alloy), the time-dependent changes in the formation of bubbles was negligible. Conclusions : Accordingly, this type of mercury release from amalgam alloy denotes the difference in the weight ratio of total constituents between after 24 hours and after two weeks. But further studies are warranted to examine the amount of mercury release which is detrimental to human bodies. Besides, a low-copper conventional alloy is a cutting type and it was characterized by the abundant formation of bubbles in a time-dependent manner. This implies that the strength of amalgam is impaired, which should be considered in selecting the appropriate amalgam alloy in a clinical setting.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.109-114
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• 1980

Ease of manipulation, adequate mechanical properties, long years of experience and economical cost are the factors which have established amalgam as the most widely used material for dental restorations. But amalgam restoration may require replacement because of secondary caries, fracture, "fall-out", dimensional change, tarnish or corrosion etc.. These failures of amalgam restorations seem to arise from failures during operations rather than from the inherent shortcomings of the material itself or of the patient's mismanagement. It is anticipated that notonly number of analgam restoration, but failures will be increase after more extensive utilization of the medical insurance which began in 1977. Then authors think that it would be helpful for the development of better treatment in daily dental practice, to know the duration of amalgam restorations and the reasons for their replacement. The data for this survey was compiled from 2, 856 out-patients of the Department of Dentistry, Ewha Woman's University Hospital from January 1975 to December 1977. 260 cases among 1,718 fillings were studied, of which 205 cases both had a single reason for replacement and recognized the date of the previous filling. The results obtained were as follows; 1. Amalgam fillings were 58. 5 percent of all dental restorative materials. Of these, 15. 13 percent of the amalgam restorations had to be replaced. 2. The first reason for replacement of amalgam restorations was secondary caries (56.10%), the second was fracture (23.80%) and the third was "fall-out" (8.78%). 3. Among those amalgms requiring replacement, 52.2 percent had been in place less than 3 years, 70.7 percent within 5 years and 89.8 percent had been in place less than 10 years. Only 10.2 percent had been in place more than 10 years.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.22 no.4 s.179
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• pp.323-328
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• 1984

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.97-104
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• 2013

This study investigated the safety management behavior of dental professionals to minimize exposure to harmful elements of amalgam and resin. As for the use of amalgam and resin, 85.8% of them used amalgam. 100% of used composite resin 100%. 97.8% used acryl resin, and 95.7% used tray resin. 95.2% and 36.5% of them were aware of the harm of amalgam and resin respectively. When using resin, their safety management behavior score was 1.99 on average, and the lowest score was 2.50 on average for 'ventilate the indoor air when handling resin'. Their average score of the safety management behavior was 1.83 when using amalgam. The lowest score was 2.89 on average for 'use the rubber dam for patients when handling amalgam'. As a result of the safety management behavior based on general characteristics, all characteristics were significant with regard to amalgam, and my position at work and work experience were significant with regard to resin (p<0.05). The correlation between the safety management behavior and general characteristics was analyzed when dental amalgam and resin are used. Amalgam was statistically correlated with academic background (p<0.05) and position at work (p<0.05), whereas resin was statistically significantly correlated with age (p<0.05) and position at work (p<0.05). Accordingly, education about the harm of dental materials must be continuously provided for dental professionals when they handle dental materials so that safety management behavior will be conducted correctly, and active efforts to protect the health of dental professionals from harmful chemicals must be made.