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Biomedical & Pharmacology Journal
Vol. 8(Spl. Edn.), 625-629 (Oct. 2015)
INTRODUCTION
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is energy
in waves emitted from a source. This energy is both
electric and magnetic. The waves alternate rapidly,
from positive to negative in electrical terms,
and from North to South pole in magnetic terms.
Electricity and magnetism are very closely related
in nature. When an alternating magnetic wave
penetrates a body an alternating electric current
will flow inside that body. Electromagnetic radiation
from a source penetrates the surrounding area,
creating an electromagnetic field (EMF). Hence
an electromagnetic field is a physical field produced
by electrically charged objects. It affects the
behavior of objects in the vicinity of the field. The
EMF is strongest at the source, and weakens with
increasing distance until it becomes too small to
measure. Almost all metals in the EMF are affected
by the EMR. This includes the amalgam fillings in
particular and other metal restorations and
components of prosthesis and appliances and the
dental implants.
Even humans beings are store house of
different bio-electrical fields. The muscles and
hence the body move and different organs like heart
function due to the bio electric stimulus. In fact I
saw an article and demonstration on how the
musculo-skeletal bio-electric impulses can be
harnessed to duplicate the human hand movement
in robotics through electrical leads from a human
hand to a robotic arm1. These bio-electrical
mechanism which smoothly maintain our lives can
Effect of Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) on
Dental Amalgam and General health
SUNDARESAN BALAGOPAL1, VIRUDHACHALAM GANAPATHY SUKUMARAN 2 and
VANDANA JAMES1
1Department of Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics,Tagore Dental College, Chennai - 600127
2Department of Conservative Dentistry, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital,
Bharath University, Pallikaranai, Chennai - 600100, India
*Corresponding author E-mail: sbalagopal@hotmail.com
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bpj/759
(Received: July 25, 2015; accepted: September 10, 2015)
ABSTRACT
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is energy in waves emitted from a source. This energy is
both electric and magnetic. Electromagnetic radiation from a source penetrates the surrounding
area, creating an electromagnetic field (EMF). It affects the behavior of objects in the vicinity of the
field. This includes the amalgam fillings in particular and other metal restorations and components
of prosthesis and appliances and the dental implants. Even humans beings are store house of
different bio-electrical fields. The muscles and hence the body move and different organs like heart
function due to the bio electric stimulus. These bio-electrical mechanism which smoothly maintain
our lives can be altered through external interfering EMR. This often results in varying types of
stress one suffers. This article is about a true health incidence that happened to an acquaintance
of mine and I think all practicing dentists should be aware of such conditions in the current Hi-Tech
world. I assure that this article is worthy of your time and it is sure to kindle your brains.
Key words: Electromagnectic radiation (EMR), dental amalgam,
electromagnetic field (EMF), dental metal restorations.
626 BALAGOPAL
et al.
,
Biomed. & Pharmacol. J.,
Vol. 8(Spl. Edn.), 625-629 (Oct. 2015)
be altered through external interfering EMR. This
often results in varying types of stress one suffers.
Any type of stress result in two types of responses.
One, neurological which is comparatively
immediate and less harmful and the other is
chemical and more harmful as it loads the system
with adrenaline and glucocorticoids and its resultant
effects in the body2.
Today’s most offices run computer assisted
in their administrative area. There are a lot more
offices and industries that work on larger Hi-Tech
computers and machineries. These have their own
large servers and uninterrupted power supplies
(UPS). These computers, servers, UPS and
Computer aided machineries are rich sources of
EMR’s they create an EMF expanding to large areas
of office space. Added to this due to constrain in the
office spaces in many establishments, a large
number of employees may have their seats within
the EMF. Further life has introduced a lot of devices,
gadgets and machineries, which has made our life
more comfortable or rather less active along with a
lot more of EMF around us. This includes the laptop
computers, PDA’s, mobile phones etc. Most people
are unaware of the ill effects of EMR to dental
restorations and health.
A Case Report
This is a true health incidence that
happened to an acquaintance of mine and I think
all practicing dentists should be aware of such
conditions in the current Hi-Tech world. Most of the
sentences stated here are, what this person has
expressed. The affected person is a male aged 50
years, with weight 110 kilograms, physically active
with no relevant medical problems like
hypertension, diabetes etc. except that he has
undergone a few surgeries after a road traffic
accident over twenty five years prior to the problem
stated here. He was an engineer in the merchant
navy for about twenty years. He then switched over
to a shore job in information technology related
with shipping.
His new job was in an office and his work-
station was placed adjacent to a server room and a
battery back up [inverter] room. The distance
between his workstation and the server and the
battery backup was within 2 feet. He had been in
this job where he worked with a laptop for about 3
years. But the new environment (workstation) was
provided to him since 3 months.
The symptoms he suffered and that started
soon after shifting to the new worksite, as told by
him were, “I was having feverish feeling, body ache
by the end of the working day, tiredness by the end
of the day, on and off tingling of the filling in
tooth cavities, tense ? anxiety ? to the extend of
disturbed sleep. These were generally mistaken
as and related to stress related reactions (on enquiry
he told - by himself and his family members
including a physician in the family). Until started
feeling a spell of very short disorientation almost
as a short black out. This and other symptoms felt
did not match with any other age related difficulties
as (these symptoms) had been only since moving
to the new job site. The BP was checked with a
small battery operated unit during and after work
and had been found normal (he had a close relative
who was a physician as mentioned earlier)”. He
underwent a number of investigations, which
included blood tests (routine counts, chemistry and
enzymes) imaging and scans which all showed no
significant alteration from the normal.
He was sure that he suffered but hesitated
to seek further medical help through counseling
because he did not know how and what to tell the
doctor and he was not keen on taking any medicines
unless the cause is established. Further in his own
words he narrated the following:
“After self assessment of all changes in
life style and difficulty experienced, everything
zeroed down to the change in work station. So I
Googled <working near server room> and I went
through the following sites:
1. http://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?
q=emf+radiation+studies&hl=en
&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart
2. http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-
chat/12537-working-server-room.html
3. http://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?q=effect
+of+emf+on+teeth+fillings&btnG= Search&
hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1
I was surprised and happy to note that the
web page displayed a range of symptoms, many
627BALAGOPAL
et al.
,
Biomed. & Pharmacol. J.,
Vol. 8(Spl. Edn.), 625-629 (Oct. 2015)
which I could relate to such as the ones mentioned
below. Symptoms of Electrohypersensitivity or
Radio Wave Sickness in the article mentioned the
following.
Neurological symptoms
Headaches, dizziness, difficulty
concentrating, memory loss, irritability, depression,
anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, weakness, tremors,
muscle spasms, numbness, tingling, altered
reflexes, muscle and joint paint, leg/foot pain, flu-
like symptoms, fever.
Cardiac symptoms
Palpitations, pain or pressure in the chest.
Ophthalmologic symptoms
Pain or burning in the eyes, pressure in/
behind the eyes, deteriorating vision, floaters..
Others
Dryness of lips, tongue, mouth, eyes;
deteriorating fillings; ringing in the ears etc.
As the list was extensive, there was a
possibility of me ‘seeing only what I wanted to see’
and ending up with assumptions. The tooth tingling
was a rare one, as explained the filling was acting
as independent antenna and probably absorbing
energy.”
This person told the office regarding the
cause and effect on his health and had his work-
station was moved away from the EMF and was
totally relieved of all the sufferings. This is not just to
understand one more cause for a tingling sensation
in a filling but for many other reasons mentioned
below.
DISCUSSION
The reported case is not an isolated
incidence. There are reports of similar incidences
in the medical journals and world wide web.(3) This
author also had a similar episode of a patient who
visited her after seeing about twenty different
physicians for her problem of “nightly adrenaline
rushes,” which produced a racing heartbeat that
kept her from being able to sleep after having a
titanium dental implant put in and worsened after
having a second titanium dental implant put in. Most
physicians she consulted did a number of ‘standard
of care’ tests but could not find the cause of this
patient’s distress and finally she was prescribed
antidepressants and sleeping pills. This patient also
had extensive dental work which included
amalgam fillings, metal crowns,
porcelain-fused-to-metal crowns and root canal
treatments. The author also states that after she
removed the mercury-amalgam fillings and the
permanent metal retainer from this patient, she
experienced a lessening of her symptoms.
In a discussion on this subject of EMR Lina
Garcia3, has mentioned that the amalgam fillings
and any metal restorations can act as an antenna
for microwave transmission of any radiation in close
range. These can result in a new kind of
electromagnetic stress for the human body. Further
there are reports from other workers as well
regarding the possible effects on amalgam on
EMRs4. These results apart from galvanic
deterioration and its effect on health the
deterioration suffered by amalgam due to the
microwave attracting stress5. It has been stated that
the EMR can affect people of all age and women
seem to be more affected than men. It has also
been reported that the effect is more on menopausal
women3. The author also rightly inform that slowly
there are many who find out for themselves the
effect of EMR on themselves from their work place
after their health get affected and for many it may
not likely be a pleasant experience of discovery.
It has been reported by many that
dissimilar metal restorations in the mouth with
amalgam restorations produce electrical currents,
which increase mercury vapor release6-8. It has
also been observed that corroded amalgam has
tendency to volatilize more mercury9,10 It has also
been reported about the volatility of mercury from
amalgam restorations on exposure to EMRs5. This
study has also found that individuals having
amalgam fillings who have long period of exposure
to EMF or MRIs have higher levels of mercury
exposure and excretion5. And there are a number
of articles published on the harmful, allergic and
vague symptoms caused by mercury released from
dental amalgam fillings11-20. These undiagnosed
symptoms are a result of high stress for many
628 BALAGOPAL
et al.
,
Biomed. & Pharmacol. J.,
Vol. 8(Spl. Edn.), 625-629 (Oct. 2015)
individuals. It is also an accepted fact that when an
individual is stressed it results in a host of excessive
enzyme and hormonal activities. Many of these
result in suppressing the immune system and
create symptoms of diseases not traceable to any
commonly known pathological causes. Though
there are no strong proven causal effects of mercury
from amalgam being the cause for many vague
symptoms of diseases, there are many anecdotal
incidences of remission of neurological, cardiac,
dermatological, endocrinological and dental
symptoms after replacement of amalgam
restorations. At the same time it is worthwhile to
advice anybody to reduce their exposure to EMR
by keeping away from EMF through reducing the
amount of time spent in or near the computer server
room and battery back up areas.
Further, studies have to be conducted to
determine stress suffered and its health effect on
individuals of different age groups, both sexes and
determine the tolerance level, safety level and
relate these with the quantity of metal in the mouth
of an individual.
CONCLUSION
There is an increase in the reporting of
symptoms related to depression and anxiety. Many
of these could be stress related. From the reported
data of causal effects of EMF on metal restorations,
it is concluded that dentists should seriously take
into consideration the working environment of the
patient when suggesting metal restorations and
wherever possible metal free restorations should
be an option.
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