SMART
Updated: Oct 7, 2021
Hi everyone. Please do not misinterpret the title of this blog post. We are not being obnoxious, we are actually writing about a special technique that Dr Andrew Doig is certified to perform as a dentist and one which we are excited to tell you about:
This particular technique was developed by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT). The IAOMT is a trusted academy of allied professionals providing scientific resources to support new levels of integrity and safety in healthcare.
There is a dedicated website for you to check out this technique and also to give you more information about what Dr Andrew can do for you when removing old amalgam fillings. The website is: www.thesmartchoice.com
So let’s take a closer look at mercury and dental amalgams…..
Mercury is the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature. More importantly, the metal is a toxic element that can also turn into a dangerous vapour. This toxic mercury happens to be one of the ingredients in the old dental amalgam fillings (or silver fillings). Mercury vapour can be created when we are chewing on these fillings, brushing these fillings and even without doing anything at all to these fillings. As it is absorbed into the body, it can have potential effects on the biology of the human body. There are many scientific papers documenting the effects of mercury on cell biology.
In the late 1950s Minamata Bay, Japan became contaminated with mercury from a nearby factory manufacturing the chemical acetaldehyde (Chisso Corporation’s chemical waste pipe). The mercury was biotransformed by bacteria in the water into methylmercury, or organic mercury, that bioaccumulated and biomagnified in the muscle of fish. As people ate the local fish, they became very ill from the mercury accumulated in their bodies. Fast forward to 2013 and the Minamata Convention came into force, a treaty formed by more than 100 governments of the world, to protect human health and the environment from mercury effects.
One of the aims of the Minamata Convention is to eradicate the use of dental amalgams by 2024, so as to avoid the effects of the mercury. Dental amalgams contain 50% elemental mercury, making them one of the highest contributors to mercury pollution of the environment and the human body.
Now, as we phase out the use of dental amalgams, that is only the first step in reducing mercury pollution.
What we face now, is the fact that many people still have these old amalgam fillings in their teeth (as they were placed over the last few decades and quite often have not been replaced). So the most important health and safety consideration now is not the placement of amalgams but the replacement of them!
This is why we adopt the SMART system to remove old dental amalgams safely. As a certified provider of this technique, Dr Andrew Doig can talk you through the benefits of it and provide you with the safest method of their removal, reducing exposure to mercury. Using special equipment and techniques, Dr Andrew will give you peace of mind when changing the old fillings and is one of the few dentists in Singapore who is certified to carry out this procedure safely.
Why do we use this technique at Skye Dental? It’s not just about providing aesthetic fillings and changing the silver ones to white ones, it’s also about minimizing exposure to mercury. We are always looking out for our patients’ health, not just their dental health. After all, it’s not just about teeth, it’s about you.