Key Points
-
Dental practices not currently using encapsulated amalgam systems may achieve a small reduction in mercury exposure by upgrading to them.
-
A further reduction of exposure to mercury may be achieved by upgrading the fabric of the workplace.
-
Systemic mercury poisoning is now very rare and so the continued routine monitoring of dentists and their staff is difficult to justify.
Abstract
Aims and objectives To review a long-standing mercury monitoring service offered to staff in dental practices in Scotland.
Methods During the first 20 years of the service, dentists and their staff were contacted by letter and invited to participate. Respondents were asked to collect samples of head hair, pubic hair, fingernail and toenail for analysis of mercury. After 1995, head hair samples were collected initially and further samples were only measured if head hair mercury was elevated.
Results At the start of this scheme many staff, including administrative staff, had systemic exposure to mercury (defined as increased mercury in all four samples). Incidents of exposure have decreased over the 35 years and are now very rare. Male staff were found to have higher mercury concentrations than female staff and dentists tended to have higher concentrations than other staff. Staff working in dental practices more than five years old had small but discernable increases in head hair mercury concentration. In recent years the use of reusable capsules such as Dentomats has been associated with a slight but statistically significant increase in head hair mercury concentrations when compared to the use of encapsulated amalgam systems. Staff wearing open-toed footwear had significantly higher toenail mercury concentrations compared to those who wore shoes.
Conclusions Exposure of staff to mercury in Scottish dental practices is currently now very low. This is probably as a result of increased awareness to the toxicity of mercury and improved methods of preparing amalgam. It may be possible to reduce exposure further, although probably only slightly, by upgrading practices and using encapsulated mercury amalgam.
Similar content being viewed by others
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
References
Ship I I, Shapiro I M . Mercury poisoning in dental practice. Compend Contin Educ Dent 1983; 4: 107–110.
Symington I S, Cross J D, Dale I M, Lenihan J M . Mercury poisoning in dentists. J Soc Occup Med 1980; 30: 37–39.
Lenihan J M, Smith H, Harvey W . Mercury hazards in dental practice. Assessment and control by activation analysis. Br Dent J 1973; 135: 365–369.
The 'Mercury in Hair' Interlaboratory Comparison Program, Environmental Health Research Division, Health Canada, Ontario K1A 0K9.
Suzuki T. Preparation of samples for mercury analysis. In Clarkson T W, Friburg L, Nordberg G F, Sager P R (eds) Biological monitoring of toxic metals. pp 623–640. New York: Plenum Press, 1998.
Rowens B, Guerro-Betancourt D, Gottlieb C A, Boyes R J, Eichenhorn S . Respiratory failure and death following acute inhalation of mercury vapor. Chest 1991; 99: 185–190.
Emsley J. The elements of murder. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Ritchie K A, Gilmour W H, Macdonald E B et al. Health and neuropsychological functioning of dentists exposed to mercury. Occup Environment Med 2002; 59: 287–293.
Echeverria D, Aposhian H V, Woods J S et al. Neurobehavioral effects from exposure to dental amalgam Hg(o): new distinctions between recent exposure and Hg body burden. FASEB J 1998; 12: 971–980.
Anon. Blood and hair mercury levels in young children and women of child-bearing age – US 1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2001; 50: 140–143. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5008a2.htm.
Jokstad A. Mercury excretion and occupational exposure of dental personnel. Comm Dent Oral Epidemiol 1990; 18: 143–148.
Martin M D, Naleway C, Chou H N . Factors contributing to mercury exposure in dentists. J Am Dent Assoc 1995; 126: 1502–1511.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Refereed Paper
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Duncan, A., O'Reilly, D., McDonald, E. et al. Thirty-five year review of a mercury monitoring service for Scottish dental practices. Br Dent J 210, E2 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2011.49
Accepted:
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2011.49
