Safe Removal of Amalgam Fillings
More and more patients are having their amalgam fillings replaced with tooth-colored fillings due to better aesthetics and other benefits of composite resin fillings at Kitcha Dental Clinic in Chiang Mai, Thailand. And most of the patient decide to replace the amalgam fillings with Porcelain Inlay/Onlay due to the strength, durability, and aesthetic outcome.
All dental amalgam restorations, also commonly referred to as silver fillings, contain approximately 50% mercury, and reports and research are consistent that these fillings emit mercury vapors. Furthermore, mercury vapor is known to be released from dental mercury amalgam fillings at higher rates during the placement, replacement, and removal of dental mercury amalgam fillings. Essentially, an unsafe amalgam removal process releases mercury vapor and particles that can be harmful to the patient.
At Kitcha Dental Clinic in Chiang Mai Thailand, the replacement of amalgam fillings with composite resin fillings may be removed safely on request by patients following specified guidelines adapted from International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicolog (IAOMT) to reduce the exposure of mercury vapors that may be emitted during old amalgam fillings removal.
The IAOMT protocol recommendations for amalgam removal are known as the Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique (SMART).
Amalgam fillings removal safety steps that may be additionally requested at Kitcha Dental Clinic in Chiang Mai Thailand include:
- Each dental operation room equips with high-volume air ventilator duct.
- Keeping the dental fillings cool by copious amounts of water to reduce heat.
- High-speed evacuator is kept near the tip of the removal site.
- Pure oxygen delivered via a nasal cannula for the patient during removal.
- The dental rubber dam is placed and properly sealed in the patient’s mouth.
- Immediate disposal of amalgam alloy
- Change of patient’s protective wear
- The amalgam will be sectioned into chunks and removed in as large of pieces as possible.
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