While breastfeeding may not seem the right choice for every parent, it is the best choice for every baby
Amalgam dental fillings
A German study (Drexler 1998) found that during the first week after
birth, the amount of mercury in the study mothers’ milk was associated
with the number of amalgam (“silver”) dental fillings; at two months, the
amount of mercury in breastmilk was much lower and associated with the
mothers’ fish consumption (rather than the number of amalgam fillings).
These authors concluded that “the additional exposure to mercury of
breast-fed babies from maternal amalgam fillings is of minor importance
compared to maternal fish consumption.” Some studies have found similar
correlations between amalgam fillings and mercury levels (Drasch 1998,
Oskarsson 1996), but another German study (Klemann 1990) found no
correlation between the total surface area of the mother’s amalgam dental
fillings and mercury in amniotic fluid, maternal blood, newborn blood or
breastmilk, and concluded that “maternal amalgam fillings are of no
importance for the mercury load of the fetus and the neonate.”
Hale (Medications and Mothers’ Milk, 2004, p. 528) recommends that “the
replacement of amalgam fillings should if possible be postponed until
after pregnancy and breastfeeding as the removal of amalgam fillings while
breastfeeding could potentially increase the transfer of mercury to the
breastfed infant.” If replacement of an amalgam filling is necessary, Hale
recommends that the dentist take routine precautions when removing the old
amalgam: “use copious amounts of cold water irrigation to minimize heat,
use a rubber dam to isolate her mouth from the particles, and use an
alternate source of air (oxygen) to minimize mercury vapor inhalation.”
By Kelly Bonyata, IBCLC.
http://www.kellymom.com/health/chemical/mercury.html)
