Mercury Dental Amalgams
While all metals used for dental restoration can be toxic, the most unsafe are the mercury dental amalgams (silver/mercury) used for filings. According to Dr. Taylor, “these so-called ‘silver fillings’ actually contain 50% mercury and only 25% silver.” Mercury has been recognized as a poison since the 1500s, yet mercury amalgams have been used in dentistry since the 1820s. Even the American Dental Association, which has so far refused to ban amalgams, now instructs dentists to “ know the potential hazards and symptoms of mercury exposure, such as the development of sensitivity and neuropathy,” to use a non-touch technique for handling the amalgam, and to store it under liquid, preferably glycerin or radiographic fixer solution, in unbreakable tightly sealed containers.2
I don’t feel comfortable using a substance (mercury amalgams) designated by the EPA to be waste disposal hazard. I can’t throw it in the trash, bury it in the ground, or put it in a landfill, but they say it’s okay to put it in people’s mouths. That doesn’t make sense.2
——-Richard D. Fischer, D.D.S.
Studies by the World Health Organization show that a single amalgam can release 3-17 micrograms of mercury per day.2
References
1. Huggins, H. 1991. “Dental Mercury Hygiene: Summary of Recommendations in 1990.” Journal of the American Dental Association 122(August 1991), 112.
2. W. Melillo. “ How Safe is Mercury in Dentistry?”The Washington Post Weekly Journal of Medicine, Science and Society ( September 1991).4. www.halehuggins.com