Has it every been proven that a person has had mercury poisoning through dental amalgams?

I had to sign something at my dentist's office stating that he'd explained that mercury fillings won't hurt me. The dentist said a person is exposed to more mercury by removing a mercury filling than by leaving it alone. I asked about timeframe (i.e. removing a filling vs leaving it for 20 or 30 yrs). He didn't give me a good answer for that one.

In the old days it was an occupational hazard for the dentist and staff. Before the introduction of encapsulated amalgam, it had to be mixed by hand, and there was some exposure to the workers.
For patients there is absolutely no risk. Modern capsules have a tightly regulated proportioning of the powder (silver, tin) and the liquid mercury, so that the setting reaction binds the mercury up into an inorganic i.e. no carbon) intermetallic compound. Any abrasion and swallowing of this amalgam is readily excreted by the body.
The nasty type of mercury is the organic form, e.g. methyl mercury that is often found in seafoods. But even big fish-eating countries like Japan or Norway don't have problems with mercury poisoning.
Unfortunately there are plenty of ill-informed or mischievous people out there who spread misinformation about amalgams. I could triple my workload tomorrow if I told patients their illnesses were caused by amalgams! Also, these rogue dentists use unproven and sometimes dangerous techniques to "prove" mercury toxicity, and to "remove" it by chelation.
Over 3 billion amalgams are placed every year.

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