The FDA in the United State s is about to make one of the biggest changes to dentistry in history. They plan on limiting the use of a 19th century dentistry technology known as amalgam fillings. Although these fillings are called ‘silver fillings,’ they are in fact only 25% silver. Half of the material used in the fillings is mercury.
According to the World Health Organization there is no safe level of mercury and as mercury is the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature, its vapors are harmful and can cause neurological damage. Mercury causes permanent damage to fetuses, kidney damage in adults and developmental disorders in children. This is not the case with lead which affects are acute when a child ingests it. Amalgam fillings according to the US Center for Disease Control, are a main source for exposure to mercury in our society.
In the early days of dentistry when alternatives to amalgam were extremely expensive, such as gold, the dangers of mercury were not fully understood. Today composite materials can be used instead of mercury.  Composites are white resin-like substances that pose no threat to your health. The composites do take slightly longer to place, but it is a small price to pay. Those with more resources have composites as the standard material as they can afford modern dentistry practices, but those less fortunate, mercury is still being used. In 2003 before U.S. House Subcommittee on Wellness and Human Rights, Emmitt Carlton, a Washington lawyer, indicated that American dentistry provided ‘choice for the rich, mercury for the poor.’
On October 1st 2007, the Corzine administration in New Jersey, ordered all dentists to implement mercury collectors and separators to their waste water to prevent it from becoming a part of the water supply. The Mercury Policy Project has shown that dental practices produce the largest amount of mercury contamination in our water supplies. This makes the taxpayers the primary source of funding for its clean up which is grossly unfair.
The same decree from the state Department of Environmental Protection also stated that dentists must use an alternative to amalgam when applicable. A good portion of dentists, about one third to one half, already have stopped using amalgam.
The real question should be why are so many dentists still using amalgam with all of its pollution and health risks? Not why have so many dentists stopped its use.
Senator Ronald Rice, has taken an active interest in this matter by sponsoring a bill that is to research the use of mercury fillings and how it affects health and occupations. The Attorney General of New Jersey, Anne Milgram, led the states to persuade the Bush administration to enforce more laws against mercury pollution in an effort to stop its use.
One in eight women capable of becoming pregnant, says the US EPA, already has such a high level of mercury in their systems that they are at risk of delivering a baby with brain damage. Pregnant women are advised to not eat tuna for fear of receiving too much mercury which leads to birth defects. Knowing this, if a dentist told a pregnant woman she was about to have mercury fillings she would undoubtedly leave the office in a flash.
Mercury pollution is so prevalent in New Jersey that it actually ships it to other locations in the US such as Nevada and with the Mercury Export Ban of 2008 it cannot be shipped outside of the country. Incidentally, President Elect Obama, then Sen. Obama, was a chief proponent of the bill. This may foreshadow the new administration’s policies toward the use of mercury and its polluting effects.
A good portion of dental workers are females of child bearing age which raises more questions of its use. These are the individuals most commonly setting the fillings and are exposed to even higher levels of mercury because of it. These are the people who should be the most adamant about the use of the amalgam fillings, but are exposed to mercury vapors every time an amalgam capsule is opened for use.
In the private sector in New Jersey, OSHA is in charge of occupational health while the public sector is controlled by New Jersey Public Employees Occupational Safety & Health program (“PEOSH”). To their credit, PEOSH is ahead of the rest of the country in setting standards for the use of alternatives to mercury. It has, however, not even issued a warning in the state prison system where mercury fillings are still being used.
While the administration of New Jersey has implemented several environmental policies toward the use of mercury, it has not enforced these for the employees working with and around amalgam fillings. This contrast creates a dangerous environment to their workers and their children for generations to come.