Amalgam in dentistry a health hazard for dental personnel?

Abstract

In a cross sectional study done in 1993 among dental personnel in Norrbotten, self-reported prevalence of muscular pain, headache, tremor, insomnia, irritation, impaired memory and depression, as well as information regarding different mercury exposures were collected Mercury exposures were determined as “number of amalgam fillings in teeth,” “years in practice,” “insufficient ventilation at work,” “total number of amalgam removed, produced and polished per day,” and “working in dental clinics.” As controls, physicians and nurses from the same geographical area were selected. The correlation between symptoms and different mercury exposures was calculated using logistic regression. The results suggested a higher prevalence of muscular fatigue and tremor for female dental personnel compared to controls Controls reported a lower prevalence of symptoms with increasing number of amalgam fillings in teeth. There was no correlation between the number of amalgam fillings handled per day and symptoms for dental personnel. Male dental personnel associated muscular fatigue headache, impaired memory, and depression with increased handling of amalgam in the clinic’ whereas the female dental personnel associated the same symptoms with the number of amalgam fillings in teeth. The strongest correlation was found between symptoms and insufficient ventilation at dental clinics for dental personnel. © 1997 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.