amalgams: Philly First In The Nation To Require Mercury Disclosures

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*Philly First In The Nation To Require Mercury Disclosures*

By: JENNY DeHUFF, The Bulletin

05/14/2008

http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=19686944 & BRD=2737 & PAG=461 & dept_i\

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Philadelphia - Freya Koss said she developed multiple sclerosis, lupus

and other health problems from a silver dental filling containing

mercury. She and several other consumer advocates and health

professionals were at City Hall yesterday to tell their stories of

cavity fillings gone wrong.

The Pennsylvania Coalition for Mercury-Free Dentistry and Consumers for

Dental Choice (CDC) stood in front of large signs warning of the dangers

of silver amalgam fillings - most notable for their high levels of the

neurotoxin mercury.

In December, Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed legislation

backed by Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown that requires dentists to

distribute patient brochures disclosing the dangers of silver amalgam

fillings.

" The textbooks don't tell us this, " said Charlie Brown, spokesman for

the CDC. " It is absurd to think nothing is damaged when a neurotoxin is

placed an inch from someone's brain. "

" I quickly learned of the harrowing effects of mercury when an old

filling was removed and a silver filling replaced it, " said Ms. Koss,

director of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Mercury-Free Dentistry.

" Seven days later, I got sick. "

Don Robbins operates a mercury-free dentist practice out of Exton. He

called himself one of the few dentists committed to informing patients

of the risk of silver amalgam fillings. Holding a jar of dental mercury

filling, Mr. Robbins pointed out the skull and crossbones icon on the

label, warning that the substance is hazardous to children and to handle

the container with gloves and protective gear.

" It's deeply disturbing what's going on in our profession, " Mr. Robbins

said. " Less than 60 percent of dentists in the U.S. belong to the

American Dental Association (ADA). Silver fillings are 50 percent

mercury. If you have two, three or more silver fillings, you are above

the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) limit for mercury intake. "

Earlier in the day, consumers protested statements made by the president

of the Pennsylvania Dental Association. " No dentist places mercury in a

patient's mouth, " he was reported to have said.

The alternatives to these types of fillings are typically white

composite resin fillings, which are more commonly used today but don't

last as long as silver fillings.

DeHuff can be reached at jdehuff@....

©The Evening Bulletin 2008

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