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 tattoo from pencil leads), and is sometimes termed a "graphite tattoo", although this is less common than tattooing with amalgam. The diagnosis is clinical. Amalgam tattoo can be distinguished from other causes of localized oral pigmentation because it does not change significantly in size or color, although it may appear to slowly enlarge for several months after the initial implantation of the metal particles. Some amalgam tattoos appear radio-opaque on radiographs (i.e. they show up on x-rays), although in many cases amalgam tattoos have no radiographic features since the responsible particle(s) of amalgam are very small even though clinically the area