Abstract
Objective: To compare the amount of mercury in new and old dental amalgam restorations. Material and Methods: This study analyzed twenty samples of dental amalgam restorations, dividing into two groups. Group 1 consisted of samples of new dental amalgam restoration (n=10) and group 2 consisted of samples of old dental amalgam restoration (5-years old) (n=10). In each group, the mercury involved in the dental amalgam restoration was calculated using the cloud point extraction (CPE) method. The new dental amalgam restorations are taken from the patients' mouth after condensation and analyzed directly after setting. The old dental amalgam restorations are removed from the patients' mouth, after 5 years of use by the patients, and then they are analyzed. The independent-samples t-test was used to analyze the differences (p<0.05). Results: For new amalgam restorations, the mean of mercury was 0.1281 mu g/mL, while for old restorations it was 0.1029 mu g/mL. There was a significant difference between the new and old amalgam restorations in the amount of mercury available (p<0.001). Conclusion: There is a significant loss of mercury over a five years period in the patient mouth.