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Abstract
Dentists may be exposed to mercury used in dental restorations. An epidemiologic study was conducted in central New York in 1985 comparing the concentration of mercury in the hair of 85 dentists to that of 23 dental‐related health professionals (mainly orthodontists and oral surgeons) who do not use mercury. Mercury in the hair of dentists was nominally higher (2.98 ± 0.57 ppm, mean + SE) than that of the control group (1.84 ± 0.20 ppm) but not significantly so. There was a significant positive linear trend in the concentration of mercury in the dentists’ hair with the number of years they had been in practice. Those dentists who wore masks when removing old mercury containing fillings showed significantly (p = 0.03) lower mercury concentrations in hair (1.7 ± 0.26 ppm, mean ± SE) than those who did not (3.65 ± 0.85 ppm). Mercury concentration in the hair of 23 of the above dentists analyzed in 1972 was 16.77 ± 4.00 ppm (mean ± SE), significantly higher (p = 0.008) than that of the same dentists in 1985 (5.27 ± 1.85 ppm). The reduction is believed due to the currently used pre‐prepared disposable or reusable capsules containing the amalgam versus formerly mixing the ingredients manually. This may also account for the lack of a significant difference in mercury in the hair of the dentists versus that of the control group in 1985. The statistical relationships between mercury concentrations in hair of the two groups and reported health effects, as well as other factors including fish consumption, number of restorations per day, office floor covering, and urban or rural domicile, are discussed.