Dental amalgam controversy total global emissions. Mercury emissions from cremation are growing in the US, both because cremation rates are increasing and because the number of teeth in the deceased are increasing due to better dental care. Since amalgam restorations are very durable and relatively inexpensive, many of the older deceased have amalgam restorations. According to work done in Great Britain, mercury emissions from cremation are expected to increase until at least 2020. The American Dental Association (ADA) has asserted that dental amalgam is safe and has held that, "the removal of amalgam restorations from the non-allergic patient for the alleged purpose of
Amalgam (dentistry) or longer to reach a reasonably high value. At the time when the patient is dismissed from the surgery, typically some 15–20 minutes after placing the filling, the amalgam is relatively weak. Therefore, dentists need to instruct patients not to apply undue stress to their freshly placed amalgam fillings. In addition, amalgam restorations are brittle and susceptible to corrosion. The alloys are broadly classified as low-copper (5% or less copper) and high-copper alloys (13% to 30% copper). The solid particles of the alloy are either spherical or irregularly shaped microspheres of various sizes or a combination of the two. The