POTENTIAL SIDE-EFFECTS OF DENTAL AMALGAM RESTORATIONS .2. NO RELATIONBETWEEN MERCURY LEVELS IN THE BODY AND MENTAL-DISORDERS

A group of 50 consecutive patients, referred for self-reported complai nts which they related to dental amalgam restorations, was compared wi th control patients matched by age, sex and postal zip code. All patie nts were subjected to a psychiatric examination and a set of rating sc ales and questionnaires, and the symptoms were related to the mercury levels in blood, urine and hair. A psychiatric diagnosis was establish ed in 70% of the patients in the index group versus 14% in the control group. The prevailing symptoms were anxiety, asthenia and depression. Mercury levels in blood, urine and hair were similar among index case s and controls, and were far below critical levels of mercury intoxica tion. There was no correlation between mercury levels and the severity of the reported symptoms. Therefore, mercury was not a likely cause o f the complaints. Instead, the reported symptoms were part of a broad spectrum of mental disorders.