Etiology of somatoform disorders associated with dental substances: Case study and an explanatory model derived from behavioral medicine

During the last few years, dental amalgam has been made responsible for a number of somatic and psychological complaints which have been identified, both by patients and physicians, as signs of mercury poisoning. Despite the fact that neither clinical nor epidemiological studies justify this view, the number of patients with 'amalgam phobia' seems to increase steadily. From the perspective of behavioral medicine one can suggest that those psychological and somatic symptoms which amalgam phobic patients complain about are caused by psychological mechanisms as generally found in somatoform disorders. If so, the typical symptoms of amalgam phobics should not be specific to dental amalgam, but will be similarly found with various dental materials. This paper suggests an explanatory model for the etiology of somatoform symptoms in connection with dental material.