Hi Mega, amalgam is made up of different metals to form an amalgam (one of those is mercury, so this is NOT safe, as you know).
Composites are the plastic white fillings. This should be a better alternative, if you don't happen to be allergic to plastics. They do not contain mercury, but they contain other chemicals and metals (even though they are plastics) to a certain extent, so some people who are more sensitive, may react to any of these to some degree. It is wise to get a biocompatibility test, (e.g. serum testing) beforehand.
The other alternative is ceramic/porcelain, which so long as you get the ones without the metal base, maybe ok also. They are much longer lasting and much tougher and suit bigger cavities more than the composites do. Again, wise to get compatibility testing done first to make sure. They also do not tend to leach out their components (so I'm told) because they are much harder.
Nothing is perfect, because they are all foreign materials going into your mouth. The key is to find the ones that test the "least" reactive/problematic. There are various ways to test for this. The more the better to narrow it down. You will get some contradictions, so it's best to choose which materials show up to be the best from most/all tests. Then you can be pretty sure they should be ok for you. Some people don't do any testing and just get anything and some get away with that just fine. Some may not. Depends on sensitivity, immune status and also how mercury toxic you still are (mercury can cause multiple chemical sensitivity).
In my search for a good biocompatible material, I kept coming across Cerec porcelain. It is a newer type porcelain and does not tend to contain the same stuff the older ones do. More dentists are taking this onboard, both mechanically wise and biocompatibility wise. It supposedly lasts almost a lifetime. Some mention the Diamond range of dental materials, and others are mentioned also. One dentist I know only uses cerec porcelain or heliomolar for his replacements, as he said in his experience, they seem the best tolerated.
Some have mentioned other ones on here that seemed to have suited them.... You also have to consider the bonding and lining agents that will be used underneath....they too can be tested.
I would recommend that you read this here:
http://herballure.com/ubbthreads/sh...&sb=5&o=&fpart=1I hope this helps a little bit.
