Increased Mercury release due to exposure to electromagnetic radiation as a limiting factor for using dental amalgam

Background: Although it is one of the most toxic nonradioactive elements, mercury is widely used in dental amalgam. Mercury is a toxic element which can damage various organs such as central nervous system, renal, respiratory and hematologic systems. The adverse health impacts associated to exposure to some common sources of electromagnetic fields including laptop computers, mobile phones, MRI and mobile phone jammers have been evaluated by our laboratory in our previous investigations. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of X ray exposure on microleakage of amalgam restoration. Materials and Methods: Standardized class V cavities were prepared on the buccal surfaces of 46 non-carious freshly extracted human premolars. The teeth were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental group were exposed to X-ray using an intraoral radiography machine at 60 kVp, 0.1 s, 7 mA with 2.5 mm Al total filtration. The absorbed dose was 245.0 ± 0.5 µGy. All specimens were placed in 2 % basic fuchsin solution for 24 hours. Then the specimens were sectioned and microleakage was assessed according to dye penetration using a stereomicroscope. Statistical analysis was performed with the Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: Microleakage was significantly higher in the X-ray exposed teeth compared to those of the non-irradiated samples. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that X-ray exposure increased microleakage of amalgam restorations