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TechnoratiUS Issues Health Warning over Mercury Fillings
Amalgam dental fillings - which contain the highly toxic metal mercury - pose a health risk, the world's top medical regulatory agency has conceded.
After years of insisting the fillings are safe, the US government's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a health warning about them. It represents a landmark victory for campaigners, who say the fillings are responsible for a range of ailments, including heart conditions and Alzheimer's disease.
Earlier this month, in an unprecedented U-turn, the FDA dropped much of its reassuring language on the fillings from its website, substituting: "Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and foetuses." It adds that when amalgam fillings are "placed in teeth or removed they release mercury vapour", and that the same thing happens when chewing.
The FDA is now reviewing its rules and may end up restricting or banning the use of the metal.
Mercury is placed in tens of millions of teeth worldwide each year. About 125 tons of it is used annually in dental treatments in the EU alone. And it was used in eight million fillings (including one million in children and young people) in Britain in 2002-03, the last year for which the British Dental Association (BDA) can produce figures.
The association continues to insist that amalgam is "safe, durable and cost-effective" and "does not pose a risk of systemic disease", though it advises pregnant women to avoid "any dental intervention or medication". However, Norway and Denmark banned mercury from fillings earlier this year. Sweden has cut its use by more than 90 per cent over the past decade, and mercury use is also heavily restricted in Finland and Japan.
Mercury makes up about half of an amalgam filling, where it is mixed with silver and small amounts of copper and tin. The combination - which has now been used for some 150 years - is extremely durable, and its supporters used to stress that it locked in the mercury. They now accept, however, that mercury vapour escapes, is breathed in, and gets into the bloodstream and organs, but they also stress that levels are very low. Opponents argue that the metal accumulates in the body and no safe level is known.
Some research suggests that mercury from dental fillings may be linked to high blood pressure, infertility, fatigue, disorders of the central nervous system, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. Dentists have been found to have high levels of mercury in their bodies as well being more susceptible to brain tumours and problems with concentration and manual dexterity.
However, a study that followed 507 Portuguese and American children for seven years after they received amalgam or mercury-free fillings found no differences in the rates of neurological symptoms between the two groups.
Nevertheless, more and more dentists - now some 500 in Britain - are setting up mercury-free practices, and more patients are demanding alternative fillings made of resin and glass.
The alternatives are more expensive and not as strong as amalgam, which leads the defenders of mercury to say that only mercury will do for molars, which carry most of the burden of chewing. And some have released another toxic material, the gender-bending chemical bisphenol A. But the alternatives are getting stronger, and the chemical is being used less in the newer products.
Even the BDA now says that the alternatives "have improved over time", adding: "Trends towards greater use of these materials imply that there is to be a sustained reduction in the use of dental amalgam."
©independent.co.uk
22 Comments so far
Show AllOne thing about amalgams is that decay is less likely.
Mercury is a well-known preservative so i guess those of us with lots of silver fillings should last a long time !
Just as environmental, or background exposure dwarfs the amount of mercury a person is exposed to with amalgam fillings, the background exposure to BPA is probably many times greater than a person endures from composite fillings and dentures as well.
I doubt that there is a problem with either mercury in amalgams or BPA in composites.
Great news...something else to be concerned about. jozef June 29th, 2008 6:38 pm is correct in that we are getting far more mercury via our diets. Coal burning produces mercury pollution, which precipitates into the soil and water.
"And your other point, this and practically all the environmental reports do come from Europe..."
But this isn't an "environmental report" it is news about the actions of an agency of my own government - which I have to go to the press of other countries, who wouldn't be expected to even know what the "FDA" is, to learn about my governments actions.
And the internet is NOT a substitute for a free and vigorous press!
And at any rate, this story was barely covered in the interent either. What percentage of the US population has even heard of CD, or say Democracy Now.
Just great as I'm to go to the dentist tomorrow. I'm to have the cheaper stainless steel caps put on two back molars. I just can't afford the gold crowns. I'll be inquiring today about the mercury issue.
Sometimes the truth can be a lie. My former dentist assured me that silver was many times as toxic as mercury. He neglected to tell me that vaporizing the silver in my teeth is nearly impossible or that silver in a form I can absorb at all is all but nonexistent.
Not everyone can afford such expense.
About 20 years ago I had all the mercury amalgam fillings in my teeth removed and then had white, porcelain crowns put on my teeth. I have not had any problems with them. I used to feel "weird" after getting new fillings. Maybe it was the mercury?
The crowns look like I have perfect teeth and I really like them. They are not cheap, however. Twenty years ago they represented $15,000 worth of work.
SandyK77,
"The problem is, you were probably exposed to more mercury drilling the fillings out than leaving them in. But certainly, there is now no good reason for new fillings to be silver mercury amalgam."
If the dentist knows what he's doing this is not true. When I had my mercury fillings removed, my dentist gave me oxygen and fitted my mouth with a dental dam. He and his assistant wore special filters as well. It's not perfect but it was one hell of a lot better than when all my mercury amalgams were put in when I was a child.
As for the clueless people that think putting a mercury toxin in your mouth isn't that much of a problem, well think about this. This is George W. Bush's FDA, run by industry hacks. It would take a lot to get this FDA to take a stand against industry.
I was told many years ago that it caused males not to develope fully during puberty.
It is probably a good thing that you got your filling replaced now.
USAn June 29th, 2008 1:54 pm
SandyK77,
The problem is, you were probably exposed to more mercury drilling the fillings out than leaving them in. But certainly, there is now no good reason for new fillings to be silver mercury amalgam.
Yeah, You are probably right but I'm still glad long term that I had them removed. One was already cracked so that may have caused exposure. But for my own peace of mind I'm glad that they were removed.
And your other point, this and practically all the environmental reports do come from Europe. Good thing we have the internet, huh?
Do you eat fish? Haven't given up eating fish? Love sword fish? Tuna? Trout. Shell fish, that bottom dweller? Then enjoy your mercury. Oh, and yes, those cute little energy efficient high lumen low wattage light bulbs? Ayep. They contain mercury. So now you can freak out when you break one. Worse, don't have your mercury amalgam fillings taken out under the glow of one of these lamps. The alarmism is amazing, isn't it.
_
"Ah, the sweet, refreshing breeze of pure and impartial science!!" Do not mistake the scientific method, i.e. science for those who practice bad science. And oh, that computer you're sitting in front of? Mercury! You betcha. And cadmium too. Using a cathode ray tube still for a monitor. Smile! You're on X-rays! Best go outside and get some fresh air, escape it all and suck in nature's sunshine produced by that great Hydrogen fusion reactor in the sky. Mmm. Mmmm. Good.
_
One more thing. When you're stuck in traffic and you see the young woman with a baby in a car seat behind you, remember that they are breathing your exhaust of: Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen dioxide, Sulphur dioxide, Suspended particles including PM-10, particles less than 10 microns in size, Benzene, Forrmaldehyde, Polycyclic hydrocarbons. All pathogens. And oh, by the way, you are breathing them too. Mercury in fillings is the least of our problems.
Most people don't realize that the only alternative to amalgam fillings are composites that contain BPA. The FDA is investigating that chemical as well. As a matter of fact, just three days ago, an article came out in the FDA News in which Rep. Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut urges the FDA's Science Board to expand its inquiry of BPA to include medical devices.
http://www.fdanews.com/newsletter/article?issueId=11714&articleId=108029
Composite fillings are medical devices. This means that dentists could have no materials at all to fill teeth. That can't be good.
Mercury is the least of our problem. Houston may well burn before the end of summer
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/13/9596/
Mercury isn't a danger to the patients but it sure is to the dentists who breath the drilling fumes day after day. Let the sleeping dogs lie in your molars but change to non-mercury fillings for new work. MAD HATTERs are bad enough, nobody needs a mad dentist. :)
Oh, don't worry, it's all fine, the experts have it covered... like the Harvard prof who accepted 1.6 million dollars from a pharmaceutical company to promote the use of anti-depressants and anti-psychotics on children. Ah, the sweet, refreshing breeze of pure and impartial science!!
Can we all please begin to parse the difference between the scientific METHOD, and actual science as practiced in a cpaitalist society? There is so much naivete being put around in the arguments about religion, that can't hurt religion, but can hurt society at large, as it encourages trust in tainted-for-profit research.
And furthermore the FDA issues this change on June 5th, so the US press has had two week to report on this.
It is getting pretty predictable, isn't it? All US journalists all have this uncanny, reflexive knee-jerk reaction - If the news hurts the rich - in this case dentists and their pro-mercury lobby and presumably the mercury mining/milling industry - bury it!
SandyK77,
The problem is, you were probably exposed to more mercury drilling the fillings out than leaving them in. But certainly, there is now no good reason for new fillings to be silver mercury amalgam.
But this is big news. And for the 1000th time, we only learned about an important domestic US issue from the British press!
A google search turns up very, very little coverage of this in the US press - the top google search returns still being shrill stuff about people concerned about mercury fillings being nutty, anti-"free enterprise", and the other usual smears.
It just makes sense not to put known neurotoxins into the body.
The same caution should apply to mercury (thimerisol) in vaccines.
Unfortunately, almost all of America's food and personal care products are loaded with GMO's, mutagens, carcinogens, neurotoxins, hormone mimickers. Much of this chemical and genetic tinkering is either outright prohibited in western European countrys or is being phased out. In America, industry leverage over the FFDA and EPA regulatory process still calls the shots 90% of the time. Of course, industry chieftans are poisoning their own bodys too, but they usually rationalize the health risks whenever cash profts are at stake.
I had all my mercury fillings replaced several years ago and would advise anyone to pay the difference in cost for non mercury fillings. Mercury can also cause a person to be lethargic. I haven't noticed any added health benefits from the mercury removal but it gives me peace of mind.