Silver dental fillings widely used to fill cavities do not appear to cause brain damage in children even though the mercury in them is a known neurotoxin, according to studies published on April 18.
"Dentists and parents I think can be very assured from the results of this study that they can continue to put silver amalgam in children's mouths to fill cavities," said Sonja McKinlay of New England Research Institutes, Boston, who was involved in one of the studies.
That research involved 534 US children aged 6 to 10 with cavities waiting to be treated, half of whom were given silver fillings and the rest a mercury-free white composite resin material. The children had an average of 15 fillings done over the five years the study lasted.
"We found that on IQ, and other aspects of brain function, as well as kidney function, the group that received the mercury-based amalgam was exactly the same as those that received the composite," McKinlay said.
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