SMART CERTIFIED by the IAOMT

Make the smart choice to protect your health by learning more about the Safe Mercury Amalgam Removal Technique (SMART)

SMART Checklist for Patients and Dentists is an extensive description of the safety precautions our doctors use every time our dental treatment involves mercury or any other pre-existing metals of unknown biocompatibility.

From the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology

The mercury free dentists of the world have been acutely aware of the potential for excess exposure to mercury when removing amalgam fillings, and have devised a number of strategies for reducing the amount of mercury exposure to both patients and dental staff during amalgam removal.

Patient Protection

First in every concerned doctor’s mind is the protection of the patient from additional exposure to mercury. This is especially true of the mercury toxic patient. The mercury toxic patient may have been exposed to varying amounts of mercury from their diet, environment, employment or from mercury/silver dental fillings. All forms are cumulative and can contribute to the body burden. The goal of this preferred procedure is to minimize any additional exposure of the patient, ourselves, or staff to mercury.

During chewing the patient is exposed to intraoral levels which are several times the EPA allowable air concentration. During the removal or placement of amalgam, the patient can be exposed to amounts which are a thousand times greater than the EPA allowable concentration.

Taking out fillings with a high-speed dental bur generates a cloud of particles, at least 65% of which are one micron or less in size. These are fully respirable, get deep into the lungs, where the microscopic particles are broken down and the mercury is systemically absorbed within a few days. This mercury exposure can be as much as a hundred times greater than that from the vapor.

Stories abound concerning patients having adverse reactions – getting sick – following removal of amalgam fillings, whatever they are replaced with, although there is no established scientific literature on the subject. The mercury free dentists of the world have been acutely aware of the excess exposure problem, and have devised a number of strategies for reducing the amount of mercury exposure to both patients and dental staff during amalgam removal. This article will cover the physical methods, the barrier, and ventilation techniques, that can be used in any dental office. The techniques in this chapter have been checked with the aid of the Jerome mercury vapor detector by IAOMT members and found to reduce mercury vapor in the air that the patients and dental staff breathe. Click here to read the complete article.