What properties make mercury a key building block of life?

Answer 1

That's funny

Answer 2

None.

Mercury is toxic, despite the fact dentists use it to fill teeth. 10 fillings expose a person to all the mercury they can safely tolerate on a daily basis. In fact, the American Dental Association banned mercury at first. The mercury/silver amalgam paste expanded as it hardened, sometimes cracking people's teeth. It was discovered Tin and Zinc could correct the problem, and market forces eventually trumped common sense. The FDA regulates the two compounds used to make the amalgam, but it won't regulate the amalgam itself. The dark secret of dentistry may be that filling teeth isn't absolutely necessary in the first place. I get the impression it takes decades for cavity causing bacteria to eat far enough into a tooth to cause serious problems. One consequence immediately evident is that infected teeth turn black. Apes frequently have a few black teeth. It might be all the mercury work is more a matter of cosmetic surgery than anything done to actually repair teeth. The bad thing about dentistry is it's hard to tell where the medicine ends and the marketing begins.

Answer 3

what properties make mercury a key building block of death?!