WiFi iconSure, Wi-Fi is super convenient and cost effective and everywhere. In fact, though plenty of us can remember life before it, it’s increasingly hard to imagine life without it.

But a Wi-Fi world is not without consequences, such as its effect on mercury amalgam “silver” fillings.

One of the latest studies on this was published last summer in the Journal of Environmental Science & Engineering.

Researchers had amalgam fillings placed in 20 extracted premolars, which were then put in tubes with artificial saliva. Half the teeth were placed in an environment without Wi-Fi exposure; the rest were exposed to 20 minutes of radiation from standard Wi-Fi devices.

After exposure, the artificial saliva was tested for mercury. The teeth that were exposed to radiation released more than twice as much mercury as those in the control group. The authors thus concluded that, although much more research remains to be done,

Exposure of patients with amalgam restorations to radiofrequency radiation emitted from conventional Wi-Fi devices can increase mercury release from amalgam restorations.

That mercury, a potent neurotoxin, is then free to enter the circulation and do its well-known damage.

Other research has likewise suggested that radiofrequency radiation from a wide variety of sources may accelerate mercury release from amalgams. For instance, a 2014 paper in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found more mercury in the urine of those who had an MRI after getting mercury fillings placed, compared with those who got just the fillings but no MRI.

Another MRI study compared 240 surfaces on 60 teeth with amalgams and found that “specimens exposed to MRI exhibited significantly higher microleakage values than control specimens.”

Cell phone radiation has likewise been found to increase mercury release from amalgams. In one study, for instance, half of participants were exposed to mobile phone use for four days after getting amalgams placed, 15 minutes each day. Notably, none of the participants were cell phone users at the time of the study and none had mercury fillings already in their mouths.

Our study demonstrated an elevation of mercury level released from dental amalgam fillings after exposure to microwave radiation emitted form mobile phones.

Such research gives all the more reason to talk with a mercury-free, mercury-safe biological dentist about metal-free, biocompatible alternatives.

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