Mercury is one of the most toxic substances known to man.
 

It it the most toxic of all metals except for plutonium, so toxic that the World Health Organization (WHO) states that mercury is a poison at any level of exposure and that there is no safe dose of mercury. The WHO estimates that the largest source of daily intake of mercury by the general public is from dental fillings. OSHA and NIOSH have established specific occupational exposure limits for mercury and the American Dental Association has published guidelines for protecting dentists and their staffs from occupational mercury exposure. The EPA has declared amalgam removed from teeth to be hazardous waste and prohibits its disposal in landfills. The FDA regulates the maximum amount of mercury that can be in the food supply. Yet all these agencies except the WHO ignore the largest single source of mercury exposure to the general public - amalgam fillings. In the face of overwhelming evidence of mercury's toxicity can any thinking person actually believe that the only safe place for mercury is in our patients' mouths?

The American Dental Association is born.
Before 1840 there were no dental schools, no dental licensing in the U.S., no dental boards or national dental organizations. Dentists were either self-taught craftsman-dentists or, as was the custom in European countries at the time, were medical doctors first and then served an apprenticeship under another dentist to learn dentistry. When amalgam fillings were originally introduced into the United States in 1834, the physician/dentists of the day were already well aware of the toxic effects of mercury. They charged the users of mercury fillings with malpractice and characterized those craftsman-dentists who would use the new mercury fillings as "Quacks" and "Charlatans".

In 1840, the world's first national dental organization, The American Society of Dental Surgeons (ASDS), was formed and the first dental school, The Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, opened to provide comprehensive organized instruction for dentists and to oppose the growing indifference among dentists for their patients' medical welfare as evidenced by the increasing popularity of mercury fillings. When the ASDS required all its members to swear an oath that they would not use mercury fillings in their patients the mercury users left the society en mass and in 1859 formed their own new organization, The American Dental Association. In its 140 years the ADA's position on and support for the use of amalgam fillings has never changed. They do now concede that "harmless amounts" of mercury vapor do leak out of amalgam fillings during chewing, but they ignore the research that shows that the leaked mercury is absorbed into the brain and vital organs.

The ADA maintains their position: Amalgam fillings - Safe and Effective.
There was good reason in the past for the ADA's position on amalgams. Up until the last two decades there hasn't been a durable, effective and inexpensive alternative to amalgams. When they were first introduced we didn't even have anesthetics or laughing gas, so the choices were expensive and painful gold fillings, a painful extraction, or relatively painless amalgam fillings that some said could harm the patient. Although the medical community was already well aware of the toxic effects of mercury, medical science of the day could prove no direct harmful effects of mercury amalgam fillings. Now, composite resin fillings are a safe, durable, and effective replacement material for amalgam. Today many composites are superior to amalgam as shown in a 1994 study by Clinical Research Associates group of Provo, Utah. Of 21 filling materials tested 10 composites proved superior to amalgam.

Sincere and Dedicated Professionals of Goodwill Disagree.
For the 140 years since mercury amalgam fillings were first introduced into the United States there has been an ongoing debate among healthcare professionals as to their safety. Medical Science will still need to progress further before the evidence overwhelmingly vindicates one side or the other. But in the mean time and for over 20 years now, our practice has steadfastly refused to use mercury fillings. Beautiful, tooth colored, non-metal, composite fillings are not only non-toxic and more durable than amalgam fillings, but also look like natural teeth.

Going a step further to help protect the environment as well as our patients, we have equipped our offices with special devices to trap and remove mercury from wastewater produced in the office. As old fillings are removed, mercury is trapped and safely recycled so that it cannot enter the ground water. Dental office wastewater is a major source of mercury water pollution in this country. Even though no governmental agency has yet told us that we must trap mercury, we think it is the right thing to do.