Abstract
The aim was to determine the relationship between mercury content of resting and stimulated saliva, and blood and urine. Eighty subjects participated; 40 of them attributed their self-reported complaints to dental amalgam (patients), the others were matched with respect to age, sex and amalgam restorations (controls). Serum, 24-h urine, resting and chewing stimulated saliva were analyzed for mercury using the ASS-technique. Quality, number, surfaces and total area of amalgam fillings were recorded clinically and using study models. Median (range) mercury levels in serum were 0.67 (0.1–1.52) µg/l for patients and 0.60 (0.1–1.3) for controls. In urine levels were found to be 0.77 (0.11–5.16) and 0.94 (0.17–3.01) µg/g creatinine respectively. No significant differences were found between the groups. Resting saliva contained 2.97 (0.10–45.46) µg/l in patients and 3.69 (0.34–55.41) in controls (not significant). Chewing mobilized an additional amount of 16.78 (–6.97 to 149.78) µg/l in patients and 49.49 (–1.36 to 504.63) in controls (P≤0.01). Only a weak correlation was found between mobilized mercury in saliva and serum (r=0.27; P≤0.05) or urine (r=0.47; P≤0.001). For resting saliva the respective values were r=0.45 (P≤0.001) and r=0.60 (P≤0.001). Saliva testing is not an appropriate measure for estimating the mercury burden derived from dental amalgam.
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Received: 5 May 2000 / Accepted: 28 July 2000
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Ganss, C., Gottwald, B., Traenckner, I. et al. Relation between mercury concentrations in saliva, blood, and urine in subjects with amalgam restorations. Clinical Oral Investigations 4, 206–211 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s007840000089
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s007840000089