Mercury Amalgam Dental Fillings and Their Toxicity - Essay Example

Running Head: Mercury Amalgam Dental Fillings and their Toxicity Name: Instructor: Submission date: Introduction Virtually every human being is concerned about their appearance. Everyone feels great whenever appreciated and feels sidelined when other people keep off from them. The mouth which is one of the faculties of the face cannot escape unnoticed whenever one looks at an individual. Teeth which are housed by the mouth form an integral part of the mouth. However, the way the teeth of a given person look like may not be the natural one as a result of several factors (Cook 8). The number, quality and appearance may be a function of the following; involvement in an accident, discoloration, or refilling (Phillips 229). Whenever any of the above mishaps takes place dental filling is one of the options left open for such victims to pursue in order to attend to the glitch. Dental amalgam involves the use of metal to fill the gap left by a missing tooth. This paper intends to carry out a research on the probable effects that amalgam fillings may have on the health of the individuals who opt for this method. Population In order to have a fairly evenly distributed so as to avoid a biased observation and subsequent inference, the population to be researched on will be obtained from a busy street in the capital city. It is taken that the city’s urban population will cut across the nation’s population and will include all the ages. So as to take care of the gender factor, the target population will have an equal representation of both males and females. Out of the 20 respondents interviewed ten were males and ten were females. All those interviewed were adults since they have a better understanding of the questions asked. The respondents’ ages ranged from zero to 100 years. Sampling results After administering the questionnaire to twenty respondents, (ten males and ten females) the following results were obtained. Question number Yes (a) No(b) No change(c) 1 4 16 - 2 14 6 - 3 5 6 9 4 13 7 - 5 8 5 - 6 15 3 2 7 8 2 - 8 6 2 - 9 17 3 - 10 12 7 1 Analysis After observing the data collected from twenty respondents with equal representation of males and females the following analysis was made. Out of 20 respondents, four will opt to remain with a gap after a loosing a tooth while 16 will go for a refill. Sixteen interviewees would not mind the material used to refill the gap while four would mind. Out of 20 who went for a refill, six had a better experience; five had a worse experience while nine were unsure about how they felt after the refill. Out of the 20, 13 experienced health problems after the refill, while seven did not experience any changes in their health. Eight out of the 13 with health problems associated them to the refill while five did not link their health problems to the refill. Out of 20 respondents 15 developed digestion problems after the refill, three did not while two were unsure of their answers. Out of ten females who had a refill, eight noted some difference on the health of their children while two did not. Out of the eight who observed changes in their children’s health, 6 related them to the refill while two did not. Out of 20 respondents interviewed 18 had notable changes on their reproductive health while two reported no changes. Of the 18, 12 associated the changes to the amalgam refill, four did not while the remaining two were unsure of the cause. I chose to group the ages of my respondents into class intervals of fifteen year so as to be able to calculate the three measures of central tendency namely; mean, median and mode. For the purpose of calculation of the measures of central tendency I have chosen to use the data obtained from question number one whose frequency distribution table is given below. Age in years Mid-point (X) Tally (T) Frequency (F) Cumulative frequency (CF) Mid-point x frequency (FX) 0-14 7 // 2 2 14 16-30 18 /// 3 5 54 31-45 23 ///// 5 10 115 46-60 58 /// 3 13 174 61-75 68 // 2 15 136 76-100 88 / 1 16 88 Totals 16 16 581 The mean also known as the average is found using this formula Mean=sum of FX/sum of F =581/16 =36.125 The modal class from a frequency distribution table is given by the class with the highest frequency. In our case the modal class is that of 31-45 years of age. The median from grouped data is given by the formula Median =L+ (sum of frequency/2 –CF) x i Where L represents the lower limit for the median class CF is the cumulative frequency of the class after the median class. i is the class interval. From the table above L=30.5, sum of F is sixteen, i is fifteen. Substituting the above value give, Median =30.5 + (16/2-5)x 15 =75 Discussion This research revealed that most people would feel disgusted by the occurrence of a gap at their after missing a tooth and that is why a good number will go for a refill. Majority would not mind the material used to refill the gap and this could pose a possible threat on their health as the material used might be having side-effects on their health. Those interviewed revealed that they noticed an increment in the number of times they visited a physician on general health issues. However they could not directly link this change to the effects of the amalgam refill. 65% of the respondents confessed that increased digestion problems after the refill a clear indication that the amalgam possibly released some form of toxic substance to the digestive tract (O'Neill 1; Walker & Herman 11). This affected the digestion. However the scope of this study could not reveal the details of the damage and the specific part of the alimentary canal was affected. Incidences of digestive problems were noted to be higher in women than in their male counterparts. Of those who registered the digestion problem, very few associated this to the possible effects of the amalgam refill. However further study done by this research revealed that mercury which is commonly used as a material for refill may have an impact on the individual’s gastrointestinal system although after a relatively long period of time (Huggins 125). Eighty per cent of the women interviewed observed notable health changes on the health of the children born after the refill something that concurred with further study done by this paper. The traces of mercury may trickle down into one’s metabolism through the release of significant amounts through teeth brushing and chewing of gums (Craig & Ward 125; Windham 1). Mercury traces from refills are transferred from the mother to the foetus via the umbilical cord and further through milk from lactating mothers (Queen 85; Ziff & Ziff 17). This is manifested in form of slowly appearing but permanent damage on the kidneys, brain and immune system of the child (Queen 92; McDonald & Avery 371). The total respondents interviewed admitted changes in their reproductive systems regardless of whether they are males or females. From this study it is evident that though on a long term basis amalgam fillings will eventually impact on ones health. I do not recommend their use if one is keen on the effects of the same. Works Cited Craig, Robert R & Ward, Marcus. Restorative dental materials. Mosby, 1997 Cook, Larry. The Beginner’s Guide to Natural Living. Berlin: Eco Vision Communications, 2006 Huggins, Hal; It's all in your head: the link between mercury amalgams and illness. Avery, 1997 McDonald, Ralph & Avery, David. Dentistry for the child and adolescent Mosby, 1994 O'Neill, Marion. Mercury: Toxic Amalgam 'Unsuitable for Dental Restoration'. May 11, 2004, retrieved September 20, 2009 from http://www.communicationagents.com/sepp/2004/05/11/mercury_toxic_amalgam_unsuitable_for_dental_restoration.htm Phillips, Ralph; Elements of dental materials for dental hygienists and assistants. Saunders, 1984 Queen, H. Chronic Mercury Toxicity; Michigan:Queen and Company Health Communications ,1988 Walker, Morton and Herman, Richard; Toxic metal syndrome. Washington DC: Avery, 1995 Windham, Bernard, Facts about mercury and Dental Amalgam with Medical Study Reverences, March 2001, retrieved September 20, 2009 from http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/AMALGAM/EN/SCIENCE/bernie_science.html Ziff, Sam and Ziff, Michael, Infertility and Birth Defects. Michigan: Bio-Probe, 1987 Appendix The questionnaire This questionnaire has ten questions most of which require short answers. 1) In case you loose a tooth which of these options would you go for? (Tick where appropriate). a) Remaining with the gap unfilled. b) Filling the gap with artificial teeth. 2) Would you mind the type of material used by the dentist in filling the gap? (Tick where appropriate). a) Yes b) No 3) How do you compare the experience of refilled gap to that of the natural teeth? (Tick where appropriate). a) Better b) Worse c) No difference 4) Have you felt any problems in your general health in since the fill was done? (Tick where appropriate). a) Yes b) No 5) If your answer in question (4) above is yes, do you link the changes to the effects of the refill? (Tick where appropriate) a) Yes b) No 6) How do you compare the incidences of digestion problems before and after the refill? (Tick where appropriate). a) Increased b) Decreased c) No change 7) Are there any notable health differences between children born before and after the amalgam refill? This question targets female respondents only. a) Yes b) No 8) If your answer is yes in question (7) above, do you attribute this to the changes in your health as well? (Tick where appropriate) a) Yes b) No 9) Have you noted any changes in your reproductive life after the refill? (Tick where appropriate) a) Yes b) No 10) Do you relate the changes to the amalgam refill? (Tick where appropriate) a) Yes b) No Read More