Thanks Brian, for the clarifications. My husband had an extensive dematologist-provided "patch test" on his back several months ago, and he had a "reaction" to a few of the test patch placements, one of them being mercury. I know that gold is an inert substance, but when used for dental processes, aren't alloys added to strengthen the normally very soft gold? We also realize the porcelain will not provide the strong chewing surface that gold would, but we are just trying to "connect the dots" so to speak. Thanks again for your input.
Warmly, JaneP