Dental amalgam is the metal that has been in used to repair cavities caused by tooth decay for over 150 years. It is a mixture of several metals, including mercury. Mercury is a heavy metal that has been determined to be toxic in some forms.

Replacement is unnecessary if in good condition

At Sage Dental Care, we do not fill teeth using amalgam. But we also do not recommend changing all the metal amalgam fillings in your mouth.  If the amalgam fillings are not cracked, broken, worn or unsightly they should be left in place. There have been many research studies examining amalgam. There has never been a legitimate scientific study linking amalgam fillings to diseases or mercury toxicity.  The material has been used for many years and is still used by some dentists. It is safe. We do not use amalgam for new fillings because it is an old approach. There are now more modern and esthetic resin composite filling materials that we use primarily because they look great, as they come in a color that closely resembles your natural teeth.

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The huge construction cost overruns at the VA Hospital in Aurora has been a hot topic recently. It is currently slated to go more than $1 billion dollars over budget. Dr Batliner ran the VA hospitals in the Rocky Mountain states from 1995 to 2003. In this editorial, he explains how this could have been avoided and why he feels that veterans will receive far better care if no more stand alone VA hospitals are constructed.