Sammanfattning
In the general population, health complaints with no clear etiology and diagnostic status are quite common, and people who experience such complaints often feel in great need of an explanation for their health
complaints. In this study, we explored a group of patients' experiences of how they came to attribute their health complaints to dental amalgam. Semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 12
patients with health complaints attributed to dental amalgam. Participants were recruited from the treatment group in a Norwegian clinical trial investigating the effects of amalgam removal. Interviews took place in 2008
and 2009, which was 5 years after participants had completed removal of all amalgam fillings. An explorative and reflexive thematic analysis (Binder, Holgersen, & Moltu, 2012; Braun & Clarke, 2006) was conducted,
technically assisted by the use of the NVivo9 software. The following themes were identified: feeling puzzled; picking up anecdotal evidence; temporal relationship between dental treatment and episodes of ill health; a
trusted person suggested dental amalgam as an explanation for my complaints; and feeling a resonance with descriptions of amalgam poisoning. The findings are discussed in the context of causal attribution of health
complaints.