Mercury And Amalgam Filling Removal

History; A broken mercury filling led to such decay that the pulp of the tooth died and “root canal therapy” was done. The patient presented for restoration with this temporary filling in the tooth placed by the root canal specialist after he had completed his work.

The tooth was restored with a composite crown. Root canal teeth are dead teeth that have been carefully filled to the root tip in an attempt to stop them from causing infection in the bone. Over time, they become very brittle, and so must be strengthened by a crown, or will break and have to be pulled.

What we are looking at here in the back tooth is a very decayed tooth. The decay went through the dark enamel area and turned the once hard dentin tooth under it into a rotten leather texture. The undermined enamel broke away leaving the very decayed dentin visible.

The back tooth is saved with an onlay, and a direct filing is placed in the upper right molar in front of it. Notice how the mercury had fractured the tooth, and all was repaired with the simple direct filling.

We have here mercury, gold, and porcelain baked a metal crown, and more mercury, a veritable museum of dental natural history.

No more metal, and beautiful.

A large mercury filling broke away all of the tooth on the tongue side, and has put deep fractures in what enamel is left on the cheek side of this lower left 1st molar.

The teeth are restored with beautiful porcelain composite. An onlay was used on the broken tooth preserving the enamel on the cheek side.

In the top photo there is a broken mercury in the biscupid, mercury under the gold crown, and mercury cracking the last molar. In the lower photo we see the teeth with the mercury removed. The dark areas are hard tooth, not decay, just stained by the metals. Click on the photo and notice the fracture line that runs clear across the bottom of the last molar.

The teeth are restored with a direct filling in the last molar, a crown on the next and an inlay in the bicuspid.

Here we have mercury, gold and porcelain.

Now there is no more metal.

The exposed roots of these canine and front lateral incisors have led to root sensitivity and decay.

Bonded composite porcelain restores these teeth beautifully.

There are 2 problems here; the mercury fillings are breaking down and breaking the teeth, and the two dissimilar metals are causing corrosion.

With the bonded composite technology the fractures are repaired and there is no more dissimilar metals.

This lower left molar had a large decay, and part of the tooth has broken away. Cavities can go undetected like this until they completely undermine the tooth and it crumbles.

the tooth was saved with a bonded composite onlay, and now it looks like it never had a cavity.

Here the mercury filling broke up, luckily it wasn’t the tooth breaking.

the tooth is whole again, and beautiful.

The patient wants the mercury out.

It was very easy and painless for the patient to have all white teeth and no metal in her mouth.

the teeth are darkening, which means the fillings are leaking and corroding, and they are fracturing.

the teeth are restored (without resorting to crowns) with bonded fillings bonded directly in the teeth. This halts the fractures and makes the teeth strong.

These are typical medium sized mercury fillings. Click on the photo to enlarge it and notice the fractures in the teeth from the mercury fillings.

These teeth are successfully restored with simple bonded fillings, without resorting to crowns, and preserving the tooth’s enamel.

Notice the fractures and the dark deep staining from leaking etc.

The teeth are restored metal-free, and can be used for chewing with confidence.

This is just a nice close-up of a small corroded mercury filling.

And this is just a nice close-up of a nicely restored tooth.

The teeth are beginning to fracture and the patient wants the mercury out!

Beautifully mercury free. Click on the photo to enlarge, and note the small colored dots on the composite inlay. These are the markings that the newly restored tooth makes when it bites on the opposing tooth. This is from the marking paper we dentists use to make sure the bite is right.

Look close and you will see in the middle tooth, the 1st molar, that the whole inside wall of enamel has been pushed out and broken off by the mercury filling. This is a very common sight to dentists and usually requires a crown to save the tooth. Luckily the tooth didn’t break down the middle or it would have been lost.

The tooth was best restored with a crown because the other cusps of the tooth were too extensively fractured by the mercury filling to save.

This is a view few people see but the dentist. The dangerous mercury above, and the teeth cleaned of the mercury below. The dark colors in the cleaned teeth are stain from previous decay and the fillings.

This is a beautiful sight to this dentist; The teeth weren’t restored with crowns as is most often the custom, but with more conservative composite inlays, preserving the enamel of the teeth.

These are the upper teeth of the same person from the previous photos (of his lower teeth). To avoid more broken teeth and more crowns and possible tooth loss, the mercury was safely removed and,

this just has to feel better. By the way, has anyone with mercury fillings ever accidently bitten a piece of aluminum foil and gotten the “zing” of the electric shock? You can’t get shocked with these teeth mercury-free teeth, the foil just feels like paper.

This is the lower dental arch with various metals, and the patient wants the metals out!

Now the teeth are metal-free with composite crowns and inlays, and the patient is happy.

This is a nice close up of a broken mercury filling. Notice how the mercury had expanded and pushed out of the tooth, between the teeth, and decayed under the filling.

We see here the teeth restored to new condition by just replacing the mercury fillings.

Upper photo, these teeth are threatened by the corroding expanding mercury fillings. Lower photo, after the mercury is removed we have a good view of decay through the enamel beween the teeth.

The decay between the teeth was removed and the teeth were restored with bonded composite inlays. The teeth are restored to like new.

Here we have nice healthy lower teeth, with two teeth threatened by the old corroding and expanding mercury fillings.

The teeth are restored strong with bonded composite porcelain.

These two gold crowns have decayed under the crowns, and there is mercury filling under the crowns.

The teeth are restored with bonded composite crowns – no metal

this is a very tarnished mercury filling. Notice the fracture at the back of the tooth.

The tooth is restored. The small dark spots on the cusp tip are stains on healthy hard enamel. Stained enamel or dentin need not be removed if it is hard, strong.

We see two mercury fillings and a little decay in the bicuspid (the grey shadow in the third tooth from the left is decay).

All three teeth are now like new, restored with bonded composite porcelain.

Four different colors of mercury fillings, a result of 4 different mixes, or formulations of mercury filling. A mercury filling is approximately 55% mercury, 35% silver, and the rest copper, zinc, etc. The different formulations can exhibit different electronegative potentials and corrode among themselves.

The teeth are restored using No metal. Since bonded composite was used, they are all tooth colored. Notice the spaces between the teeth are closed.

It is hard not to notice the deep stained fractures in this molar with mercury in it.

Here the tooth is restored beautifully and strengthened with bonded composite. (The decay in the back tooth was repaired)

Gold is an excellent material to restore teeth with. Gold is cemented to the tooth and can be very long lasting. Here it has failed because the cement has washed out and the teeth have decayed under the gold.

The decay is cleaned up and the teeth are restored to look like new with a bonded composite onlay and a composite crown.

Here 3 teeth will get composite fillings, two because of mercury replacement, and the last molar, the wisdom tooth, because of the large decay in it.

after treatment we see the mercury replaced and the decayed tooth restored.

We see a lot of mercury in this upper left 1st molar . It is corroding and chipping, and if left to its course will fracture the tooth and it will be lost or crowned to save it.

The tooth is restored with a bonded composite onlay. An onlay covers only the cusps of the teeth and is more conservative than a crown, which covers the whole tooth. An inlay fills the tooth but does not cover the cusps

the enamel is fracturing around the mercury filling of the 1st molar, and leaking is causing the tooth to darken. Click on the photo to enlarge.

An onlay was placed in the upper left 1 molar and direct fillings were placed in the 2nd molar.

Mercury fillings in the molars, and decay in the cusp tip of the canine.

Metal-free and decay-free.

Ugly metal.

beautiful composite

What we see here is two different mercury fillings in the same back tooth. They are leaking, and the tooth is decaying under the fillings. The tooth in front of it has a fractured porcelain crown, notice the piece missing between the teeth.

Both teeth are restored with a bonded composite inlay in the back tooth and a composite crown on the lower left molar in front of it.

Here we see an all metal crown on a molar, a virgin bicuspid tooth, and a metal crown with porcelain baked on the outer surface that is most visible.

The metal crowns are replaced with bonded composite crowns. Note that the opportunity was taken to close the gap between the two teeth.

Here we see the dark, corroded, mercury fillings that extend down between the teeth.

So, here the teeth are restored with bonded porcelain composite inlays. Since the inlays are manufactured on dies, which means that each tooth model can be held in the technicians hand, the restorations between the teeth can be contoured perfectly, achieving a normal contact between the teeth and an excellent smooth fit where the inlay meets the tooth.

These mercury fillings are in relatively good condition. They are not too corroded. Yet you can already see fracture lines in the front and back of the back tooth.

These two back upper left molars were restored with direct fillings. That is, the fillings were bonded directly into the teeth versus making them on a die in the laboratory, as inlays, onlays, and crowns are made. Fillings placed directly in the teeth are less expensive than lab fabricated restorations by a third.

This is a close photo of an aging mercury filling. Notice, it has begun fracturing the tooth.

Restored with bonded composite porcelain placed directly in the tooth and cured, this tooth is now strong, and the fractures caused by the corroding mercury are sealed.

Mother nature sometimes puts little pits in the back of front teeth. Here, mercury was used to fill them. Even little mercury fillings like these will crack the teeth.

Happily, composite filings are so invisible that the restored teeth look like new.

In this upper dental arch, note the mercury fillings that extend down between the teeth These are usually best restored with an ‘inlay’ that is made in a lab. The reason is that it is difficult to make an excellent quality restoration, in the mouth, between the teeth. In the lab it can be make perfectly on a die of the tooth and then carried to the mouth and bonded in.

Inlays, fillings, and a crown have restored this mouth to healthy, strong, and beautiful. (The discolored front tooth is a ‘porcelain to metal crown’).

This next to the last tooth is a metal crown with porcelain baked to it. Decay at the gum line required it to be replaced. There was old mercury filling under the crown.

The decay and the mercury were removed and the tooth was restored with a composite porcelain crown that was bonded to the tooth. Now there here is no metal in the tooth. It is like new!

Here the gold restorations on the lower left back molars have failed because the cement that secured them to the teeth washed out and the teeth are decayed up under the gold. There were also old mercury fillings under the gold crowns.

After removing the gold and mercury and cleaning the decay away, the teeth are restored with non-metal composite crowns, Note the tooth-like translucency of the crowns; the color of the tooth, stained darker by previous decay or metals, can be seen through the crown.