A 7-year prospective quasi-experimental study of the effects of removing dental amalgam in 76 self-referred patients compared with 146 controls.

Background: Dental amalgam has been suggested to cause long-term physical and mental problems. Claims that removal of the amalgam may lead to dramatic improvements in health have not been tested empirically in controlled studies with a long follow-up period.

Purpose: To investigate the long-term effects of removal of dental amalgam on physical and mental symptoms in self-referred patients who complained of multiple somatic and mental symptoms attributed to dental amalgam fillings.