Affiliations 

  • 1 Professor and Head, Department of Conservative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Ann Dent, 1994;1(1):1-4.
MyJurnal

Abstract

The mercury controversy related to dental amalgam is still continuing. In Malaysia, part of, this controversy has been attributed to a recently - introduced dental amalgam claimed to be non-mercury releasing and causing no mercury toxicity. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether this amalgam, Composil, was indeed non-mercury releasing. Six specimens each of Composil and a control (GS-80) were incubated at 3TC in deionised-distilled water. The daily mercury release was determined over a four-week study period using the stationary cold-vapour atomic absorption spectrometric method. The mean mercury release of Composil was 30.9 Ilg/cm2/ 24hr whilst that of GS-80 was 0.9 Ilg/cm2124hr and the difference was found to be highly significant (P < 0.00l). Results of this study therefore did not substantiate the manufacturer's claim. The release of mercury from amalgam restorations and their implications in clinical practice were also discussed.