hi-i worked for a dentist for 10 yrs from 1978-88 and we would fix the amalgam and mercury in the palms of our hands. this mixture is your dental fillings. if the mercury would fall on the mixing ledge we would play with it. the girls before me all did this. one of the girls before me died in her early 20’s from cancer i don’t know anymore about her. now i know how dangerous mercury is and would never had touched it. we didn’t wear masks at that time either so breathing in the dust from fillings being remove might not have been that great.