Garmaine Staff asked 3 years ago
There's a lot of talk on the internet that mercury amalgam fillings are toxic and should not be done. In the 20 years since my first cavity I've only received metals-free composite fillings. My current dentist informs me that composite fillings are qualitatively better, while disregarding the health concerns with amalgams. This has made me wonder, what percentage of fillings performed today are done with mercury amalgam? In other words, I have a suspicion that it is an increasingly irrelevant problem.
I've tried the basic Google searching for an answer, but results on the topic are obfuscated by reports concerning the percentage of mercury in fillings, rather than percentage amalgam fillings administered.
I did find:
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), more than 100 million silver-amalgam fillings are placed in American mouths each year.
…
As a sign of the times, in 1999, around 86 million composite restorations were placed in the United States, as against 71 million amalgam restorations.
I'd like something more current though. Plus, I don't know if the sum of those figures represents the total.
Data about the United states is preferred, but any data is accepted as useful.