nor education 8 min read

By TerraCare

Dental Fillings and Metal During Terramation (colloquially referred to as human composting)

Dental fillings, metal crowns, and other oral hardware do not decompose during natural organic reduction (NOR). At the end of the terramation process — which takes several weeks to a few months, depending on the system — any dental metals that were present in the body are separated from the resulting soil and handled according to the provider’s protocols. This is similar to how cremation handles metal: it stays, it is collected, and it is either returned to the family or recycled. The more detailed question — especially for amalgam fillings, which contain mercury — is how that handling happens, and how NOR compares to other disposition methods on the environmental side.

What happens to dental fillings and metal during terramation?

Dental metals — amalgam fillings, gold crowns, metal bridges, and titanium implants — do not decompose during NOR. They remain intact and are separated from the finished soil by screening at the end of the process, then sent to medical metal recycling programs. Unlike cremation, which vaporizes mercury from amalgam into the air, NOR keeps mercury bound in solid amalgam that is collected and handled as a discrete solid.

  • All dental metals — amalgam, gold, metal crowns, bridges, and titanium implants — pass through NOR intact and are separated by screening at the end of the process.
  • Recovered metals are typically sent to certified medical and dental metal recycling programs; families can ask whether specific items like gold crowns can be returned.
  • NOR's key environmental advantage over cremation on mercury: NOR temperatures do not vaporize mercury, so amalgam mercury is captured as a solid rather than released as air emissions.
  • Composite resin fillings contain glass filler particles that are also non-biodegradable and are collected during post-process screening.
  • Inform your NOR provider about significant dental work during intake — screening catches metals regardless, but disclosure helps providers plan appropriately.
  • The amount of dental hardware does not affect NOR eligibility or soil quality — more hardware simply means more material collected during screening.

What Exactly Are Dental Fillings Made Of?

Dental materials vary considerably, and that affects how each behaves during NOR:

  • Amalgam fillings (the silver-colored fillings common in older dental work) are an alloy of mercury, silver, tin, and copper. The American Dental Association notes that amalgam has been used in dentistry for over 150 years.
  • Composite resin fillings (tooth-colored, increasingly common since the 1990s) are made from glass and plastic compounds. Any resin or glass particles remaining after NOR would be separated during screening.
  • Gold crowns and inlays — chemically inert; remain intact through the process.
  • Porcelain and ceramic crowns — non-biodegradable; ceramic fragments are screened out.
  • Metal bridges and metal-fused-to-porcelain crowns — the metal substructure remains intact.
  • Titanium dental implants — highly corrosion-resistant; pass through NOR unchanged.

What Happens to Dental Metals During NOR?

The Separation Process

At the end of the natural organic reduction process, operators screen the transformed material to separate non-organic matter from the finished soil. This is a standard part of every NOR workflow. Metals — including any dental hardware — are collected at this stage.

The process mirrors what happens after cremation — metals that survive the retort are sorted and removed before cremated remains are returned to the family. NOR uses a similar screening approach. The resulting soil, free of metals and non-organic material, is what families receive for a garden, conservation project, or other memorial use.

What Is Done With Collected Metals

Recovered dental metals are generally sent to medical and dental metal recycling programs. Gold, silver, and other valuable metals recovered from dental work may be processed through certified recyclers who handle precious metal recovery from dental materials. Titanium implant posts can similarly be recycled.

Whether your family can request the return of specific dental materials — such as a gold crown — depends on the provider. This is worth asking when you begin the intake process. Most providers will work with families to honor specific requests where feasible.

The Mercury Question: How Does NOR Compare to Cremation?

Why Amalgam Mercury Matters

Mercury is a neurotoxin that requires careful handling at end of life regardless of disposition method. The World Health Organization identifies mercury as one of the top ten chemicals of major public health concern. The question is relevant across all disposition types — burial, cremation, and NOR.

Mercury in Cremation

During cremation, the heat of the retort — which reaches temperatures of 1,400 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit — vaporizes mercury from amalgam fillings. Mercury vapor released during cremation is an established environmental concern. Several countries, including the United Kingdom and Sweden, have moved to require mercury filtration on crematoria. The EPA has tracked mercury emissions from crematoria in the U.S. as part of broader mercury monitoring.

Mercury in NOR

During natural organic reduction, amalgam fillings do not reach the temperatures required to vaporize mercury. The process operates at far lower temperatures — warm enough for microbial activity to proceed efficiently, but not hot enough to volatilize mercury from amalgam. The mercury in amalgam fillings remains bound in the solid alloy throughout the NOR process.

This means mercury-containing amalgam is collected as a solid during the post-process screening rather than released as vapor. NOR proponents argue this is a meaningful environmental advantage over cremation on the mercury question — the metal is captured and handled as a discrete solid rather than emitted into the air.

That said, the collected amalgam must still be handled responsibly. NOR providers are expected to follow applicable regulations on amalgam waste disposal — the same standards that apply to dental offices, which are regulated by the EPA under the Dental Amalgam Rule (40 CFR Part 441).

Do I Need to Tell My NOR Provider About Dental Work?

Yes — informing your provider is the right approach, and most NOR facilities ask about dental history during intake. In practice, providers screen all processed material regardless of what they know in advance, so the screening step catches dental metals whether or not they were disclosed. But disclosure helps providers plan and ensures nothing is overlooked.

You do not need to reconstruct your entire dental history. A general note — “I have several amalgam fillings and two crowns” — gives providers useful context. If you have dental implants, or if you have had significant oral surgery that left surgical hardware in the jaw, mention that as well.

For a broader look at how non-biological materials are handled throughout the NOR process — including orthopedic implants, pacemakers, and other medical devices — see our companion article, Medical Devices and Implants During Terramation. For related pre-planning considerations, including why embalming is incompatible with NOR, see our article on embalmed bodies and terramation.

Is Any of This Regulated?

NOR is legal in 14 states as of April 2026: Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Nevada, Arizona, Maryland, Delaware, Minnesota, Maine, and Georgia — plus California, New York, and New Jersey, where terramation is legal but not yet operational. You can review the state-by-state legal landscape at /blog/state-guides/.

Within legal states, NOR providers operate under state regulations governing the overall process. The handling of amalgam waste also falls within the scope of the EPA’s Dental Amalgam Rule (40 CFR Part 441) — and while NOR facilities are not dental offices, responsible amalgam handling is an expectation that established providers take seriously. There is currently no federal law specifically governing NOR as a disposition method.

For more on the legal framework, the complete guide to natural organic reduction covers federal, state, and local regulatory context.

Will mercury from amalgam fillings contaminate the soil from terramation?

No — not in the way it might during cremation. Because NOR operates at far lower temperatures than cremation, mercury in amalgam fillings remains solid rather than vaporizing. The solid amalgam is separated from the soil during post-process screening. The finished soil that families receive has had metal material, including amalgam, removed.

Can my family ask for a gold crown to be returned after terramation?

Possibly. Provider policies vary. Some NOR providers will return specific recovered dental hardware to families upon request — particularly items with sentimental or material value, like gold. This is worth discussing directly with your provider during the planning process.

Do composite (tooth-colored) fillings cause any issues during terramation?

Composite resins are largely organic but also contain glass filler particles. Like other non-biodegradable materials, any remaining resin or glass is collected during the post-process screening step. Composite fillings do not present the mercury concern that amalgam does.

How is NOR different from burial when it comes to dental metals?

In conventional burial, dental metals remain in the ground with the body and may eventually leach into surrounding soil over a very long period. In NOR, metals including dental hardware are actively separated and collected within weeks to a few months, rather than being left in the ground indefinitely.

What if someone has a large number of dental implants or significant oral reconstruction?

The amount of dental hardware does not affect whether terramation is possible. Providers screen all processed material as a matter of course. More dental hardware simply means more material to collect during screening — it does not change the process or the quality of the resulting soil.

Ready to Explore Terramation Options?

Learn more about terramation providers near you — TerraCare Partners connects families and individuals with NOR providers who handle every stage of the process, including the careful management of dental materials and metals.

Ready to explore terramation options? Contact TerraCare Partners to get started with planning and learn what to expect throughout the terramation process.

Sources

  1. Washington State Legislature — WAC 246-500 (NOR Rules). https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=246-500
  2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Mercury: Basic Information. https://www.epa.gov/mercury/basic-information-about-mercury
  3. American Dental Association — Dental Amalgam: What You Should Know. https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science-and-research-institute/oral-health-topics/amalgam
  4. World Health Organization — Mercury and Health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mercury-and-health
  5. Washington State Department of Health — NOR. https://doh.wa.gov/
  6. National Funeral Directors Association — 2025 Cremation and Burial Report. https://nfda.org/news/statistics
  7. U.S. EPA — Formaldehyde (includes regulatory context for chemical handling). https://www.epa.gov/formaldehyde
  8. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Composting. https://www.epa.gov/composting