The Beginning of the End of Mercury in Dentistry

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The Beginning of the End of Mercury in Dentistry (2 comments )

READ MORE: Google, 2006 This was posted by Rep. Diane at a

blog site I go to the Huffingtonpost.com.

In a remarkable reversal of policy and precedent, the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) last month rejected its own staff report that

concluded mercury amalgam fillings used by millions of Americans are

safe. The panel of FDA advisors said the report did not objectively

and clearly present all current data about the fillings.

Members of the advisory panel - consisting of medical doctors,

dentists, and health professionals - repeatedly questioned the impact

of dental mercury on children and the fetuses of pregnant women. They

also said that more study is needed on the health effects of vapors

that are emitted from mercury fillings.

Dental amalgam, deceptively called silver fillings, is a remnant of

19th Century medicine. Today more than 100 million Americans have

mercury/silver fillings. But the vast majority, according to a 2006

Zogby poll, is not aware that silver fillings consist of 50% mercury,

one of the most toxic substances known to man.

The FDA has already taken numerous steps to limit human and animal

exposure to mercury. To date, it has banned mercury in disinfectants

and thermometers, warned against mercury in certain foods, and

prohibited the presence of mercury in all veterinary products.

Many governments around the world, however, have gone a step further

by either limiting the use of or banning mercury fillings. The UK,

for example, prohibits pregnant and lactating women from receiving

amalgam fillings, and Scandinavian countries are phasing out the

product. Canada has also restricted its use.

Despite growing scientific evidence and public awareness of the

dangers of exposure to even small amounts of mercury, the FDA, the

federal agency charged with regulating dental amalgam, still permits

the sale of a dental product that has not been proven safe and

classified as the law requires and is used inches from the brain. It

continues to sanction commerce in silver fillings without disclosing

to the American people that they contain a significant amount of

mercury and emit mercury vapor during the entire life of the filling.

The FDA's past silence on mercury amalgam is all the more curious

given the fact that both the Centers for Disease Control, in 2005,

identified amalgam as a source of " major exposure " to mercury, and

the U.S. Public Health Service warned, in 1999, that mercury amalgam

is one of the two greatest sources of mercury exposure to humans.

Dental amalgam is also a major environmental pollutant once it is

removed from the mouth to such a degree that dental offices are the

number one source of mercury in waste water. The FDA, however, has

never written an environmental impact statement on dental amalgam as

it is required to do by law. The environmental damage caused by the

disposal of mercury amalgams makes no sense when alternative

materials are now available for every kind of dental cavity.

The FDA's historic decision to reject its own staff report signals

the beginning of the end of mercury amalgam's privileged sanctuary.

It is a good first step. But more remains to be done.

The FDA must therefore move ahead post haste in the following four

areas: (1) Disclosure: The FDA must immediately take the simple step

of requiring dentists to inform their patients that amalgam is 50%

mercury, it constitutes exposure to a neuro-toxin, and alternative

fillings are available. (2) Environmental Impact: The FDA has the

legal duty to conduct an environmental impact study of dental

amalgam, which it has never done, before properly classifying the

material. (3) Proof of Safety: Manufacturers of amalgam should have

the burden of proving its safety. To date, they have never sought nor

been given pre-market approval for their product. The FDA must hold

amalgam manufacturers accountable. (4) Children and Pregnant Women:

Ten years ago, Health Canada directed its dentists to cease placing

mercury fillings in the teeth of children, pregnant women, and

persons with kidney disease, mercury hypersensitivity, or braces. The

FDA should implement a similar ban in the U.S.

Two short decades ago, health and public policy advocates embarked on

a campaign to rid public areas of smokers and second-hand tobacco

smoke. Today the U.S. is on the cutting-edge of educating and

informing its citizens about the scourge of tobacco and eliminating

tobacco smoke from public and common areas. A similar campaign is

gathering momentum here and around the world to end the use of

mercury amalgam. It is past time for the American dental profession

to relinquish a practice that is as antiquated as it is dangerous.