Amalgam Fillings Versus Composite Fillings

English 111

Instructor

Due November 16, 2010

Amalgam Fillings versus Composite Fillings

While I was growing up in a rural Indiana town and enjoying my early childhood days, visiting the dentist was always something I feared. I had regular check-ups at the dentist in order to preserve my teeth, and every once in awhile, the dreadful dentist would ask me, “When was the last time you brushed your teeth?” Immediately after he asked this question, he would tell me, “I need to get an x-ray to see if you have any cavities.” That was when thoughts would race through my head about the swab of numbing gel being put into my mouth, the long, painful needle being stuck into my tender gums, and talking awkwardly for the rest of the day. Brushing my teeth in my early teenage years was not on my list of priorities to do every morning and evening, I would rather be outside with my buddies getting into mischief. Visiting the dentist and hearing the word cavity was my worst nightmare.

In the early 70’s, when I had to have some dental work done, the dental industry was using amalgam “silver” fillings. One might ask what an amalgam is. It is a material used by dentist to fill cavities caused by tooth decay (FDA U. S. Food and Drug Administration, 2009). Amalgams were made by mixing approximately equal parts of elemental liquid mercury (43 to 54 percent) and an alloy powder (57to 46 percent) composed of silver, tin, copper, and sometimes smaller amounts of zinc palladium, or indium (unknown, 2002). We all have probably had dental work on our teeth at some point in time that is why I would like to discuss with you the argument of replacing older amalgam fillings, which are still presently used, with composite fillings that are becoming increasingly popular today.

Our teeth are very important to us; they are used for chewing and digesting food which is an essential part of human life. Is that all they are used for? Most people would say yes, but any forensic anthropologist...