THE AUSTRALIAN PUBLICS PERCEPTION OF MERCURY RISK FROM DENTAL RESTORATIONS

The debate about mercury and dental amalgam has been one of the longes t running in dentistry, and shows no signs of abating. This study aime d to investigate perceptions about mercury in dental fillings among a representative sample of the Australian public. A random sub-sample of participants in a national dental telephone interview survey complete d a follow-up postal questionnaire which included four items on dental mercury. The postal survey response rate was 85.2%. Concern about mer cury in dental fillings was expressed by 37.5%, while 16.2% reported h aving requested fillings that do not contain mercury. Avoidance of den tal care because of concern about mercury in fillings was reported by 5.8%, but only 4.7% reported having had fillings replaced because they contained mercury. The data indicate that there is a substantial degr ee of concern about mercury and dental amalgam among the Australian pu blic, but that the dental behavioural and treatment-pattern consequenc es of that concern are infrequent.