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Medical and Dental Applications
While silver's importance as a bactericide has been documented only since the late 1800s, its use in purification has been known throughout the ages. Early records indicate that the Phoenicians, for example, used silver vessels to keep water, wine and vinegar pure during their long voyages. In America, pioneers moving west put silver and copper coins in their water barrels to keep it clean.
In fact, "born with a silver spoon in his mouth" is not a reference to wealth, but to health. In the early 18th century, babies who were fed with silver spoons were healthier than those fed with spoons made from other metals, and silver pacifiers found wide use in America because of their beneficial health effects.
In dental applications such as silver amalgam tooth restorations, the National Institutes of Health Conference Statement (9/26/91) states that "The benefits of existing dental restorative procedues far outweigh the currently documented risks." Additionally, a U.S. Public Health report (1993) states that approximately half of the tooth restorations performed in 1990 used the silver-mercury amalgam, this would require well over 500,000 troy ounces of silver.
With silver-tin tooth restorations, a new mercury-free tooth filling material has been developed by the National Institute for Standards and Technology, in Gaithersburg, MD. This material is silver-coated tin (both non-toxic to humans under normal use) whose surfaces are kept oxygen-free by a special liquid. When this liquid is squeezed out by the dentist, the silver-tin particles cold weld to form a metallurgical bond as strong as the old filling materials. The new alloy is now undergoing field tests.
Finally, silver has a variety of uses in pharmaceuticals. In fact, silver sulfadiazine is the most powerful compound for burn treatment. It is used by every hospital in North America for burn victims to kill bacteria and allow the body to naturally restore the burn area. It is used world-wide. It is sold under the trade name of Silvadiene, by Marion Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. In another application polyeurethane central venus catheters impregnated with silver sulfadiazine and chlorhexidine to eliminate catheter-related bacteriemia are supplied by Arrow International, Reading, PA.
In a world concerned with the spreading of virus and disease, silver is increasingly being tapped for its bactericidal properties and used in treatments for conditions ranging from severe burns to Legionnaires Disease.
For a more complete description of silver's use in health please review our backgrounder on Silver's Increasing Importance to Health.
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