Reported instances of dermatitis or stomatitis from the mercury of amalgam fillings are rare, but undoubtedly such cases occur more frequently than a review of the literature would indicate. We have recently observed 2 examples of such a dermatitis, and we believe they are the first to be recorded in this country. In our first patient a mild stomatitis was also present. In neither of our patients was the cause recognized at the time of the first attack, and no doubt in many cases a mild involvement is unrecognized. We desire to stress the point that such cases represent examples of contact dermatitis rather than of irritation of the skin and the mucosa resulting from the absorption of mercury from the amalgam fillings and to review briefly the literature on the controversial subject of chronic mercurial poisoning resulting from amalgam fillings.
REPORT OF CASES
Case 1.—
J. L., a schoolgirl