The results of two seven year studies, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, say that mercury amalgam fillings are safe for children. Many autism campaigners believe that mercury causes autism and it might in some children though autism tends to show itself when the child is under two years old. An age when not many children have fillings.
The first study looked at 534 children aged 6 to 10 in New England and tracked IQ, memory, visuomoter ability and urine analysis. It concluded:
“In this study, there were no statistically significant differences in adverse neuropsychological or renal effects observed over the 5-year period in children whose caries were restored using dental amalgam or composite materials. Although it is possible that very small IQ effects cannot be ruled out, these findings suggest that the health effects of amalgam restorations in children need not be the basis of treatment decisions when choosing restorative dental materials.“
Neuropsychological and Renal Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children
The second study followed 507 children in Portugal aged 8 to 10 and tracked memory, attention/concentration, motor/visuomotor skills and nerve conduction velocities. Its conclusions were
“In this study, children who received dental restorative treatment with amalgam did not, on average, have statistically significant differences in neurobehavioral assessments or in nerve conduction velocity when compared with children who received resin composite materials without amalgam. These findings, combined with the trend of higher treatment need later among those receiving composite, suggest that amalgam should remain a viable dental restorative option for children.“
Neurobehavioral Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children
Whilst this is pretty conclusive evidence that fillings do not significantly impact on their owners. The only real question left is if there is a effect of a mother’s mercury amalgam fillings on an unborn fetus.