Association between Amalgam Tooth Fillings and Blood Mercury Levels in Children

The notion that dental amalgam is a potential source of mercury exposure remains a controversial issue. However, there are few epidemiological analyses that have addressed whether this occurs in children. We aimed in our current study to identify the relationship between dental amalgam filling surfaces and the blood mercury levels in a cohort of 711 South Korean children aged between 8-9 years. Oral examinations were conducted to detect the number of amalgam filling surfaces on the teeth of these individuals. Blood samples were also taken from these children to assess the levels of mercury accumulation in the body. The amalgam filling surfaces were classified into four groups based on their number: 0 (n = 368), 1-5 (n = 219), 6-10 (n = 89), and 11+ (n = 35). The blood mercury levels in the children with more than 10 amalgam surfaces was 0.47 microg/L higher on average than those with no amalgam surfaces after adjusting for the frequency of fish or seafood consumption, age, and gender (P < 0.05). We found from our data that a higher number of dental amalgam fillings correlated with a higher blood mercury level in Korean children. Further studies are needed to investigate whether these elevated mercury levels exert neurotoxic or nephrotoxic effects.

The Effect of Intensive Oral Hygiene Care on Gingivitis and Periodontal Destruction in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the effects of oral hygiene care by oral professionals on periodontal health in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diabetic participants were recruited at a university hospital and matched at a 1:1 ratio by age and gender, and randomly allocated into intervention (40 people) and control groups (35 people). Tooth brushing instruction, oral health education, and supra-gingival scaling were implemented in all patients at baseline. This program was repeatedly conducted in intervention patients every month for 6 months, and twice at baseline and the sixth month in the control. Oral health was measured by decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT), plaque index, calculus index, bleeding index, patient hygiene performance (PHP) index, tooth mobility, Russel's periodontal index, and community periodontal index (CPI). Diabetes-related factors, oral and general health behaviors, and sociodemographic factors were interviewed as other confounding factors. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used with SPSS for Windows 14.0. RESULTS: At baseline, there were no significant differences between the two groups in average of periodontal health (calculus index, bleeding index, Russel's periodontal index, CPI, and tooth mobility), diabetes-related factors (fasting blood glucose, postprandial blood glucose, and HbA1c), and in distribution of sociodemographic factors and health behaviors. In intervention group, plaque index, dental calculus index, bleeding index, and PHP index were reduced fairly and steadily from the baseline. There were significant differences in plaque index, dental calculus index, bleeding index, PHP index, and Russel's periodontal index between the two groups at sixth month after adjusted for baseline status. CONCLUSION: Intensive oral hygiene care can persistently improve oral inflammation status and could slow periodontal deterioration.