mercury Archives - The Wealthy Dentist

Dental Survey: Lead is the Number One Dentist Concern (video)

March 7, 2021 By Jim Du Molin

Mercury and Fluoride, two chemicals that can be highly toxic, or highly helpful to dental health.

Lead and Bisphenol A, two more scary chemicals that might be in our dental work. It’s enough to make you wonder whether dentists might sometimes be doing more harm than good.

What’s worse, the scientific evidence isn’t clear.

Sighed one dentist, “I’d like to be doing all gold restorations.”

Another dentist commented, “I feel it’s ironic that some patients don’t want ‘artificial chemicals’ in their mouth and decline the natural elements in amalgam in favor of the complex chemistry of composites!”

The Wealthy Dentist conducted a survey of dentists asking how concerned they are about various potential public health threats linked to chemicals in dentistry.

Click on Play to hear what chemicals concern dentists the most —

What dental chemicals concern you?

Filed Under: Dental Videos Tagged With: Amalgam, dental survey, dental videos, dentist, dentistry, dentists, mercury, survey, video marketing

Dentists Say Lead Is Dentistry’s Biggest Health Threat

March 7, 2021 By Jim Du Molin

Other Dental Health Concerns Include Mercury and Bisphenol-A

In this survey, we asked dentists how concerned they are about various potential public health threats linked to dentistry. Dentists’ concerns, in order, are:

General dentists versus specialists

Lead in dental lab work
Mercury in amalgam
Bisphenol-A in composite, and
Fluoride in water supplies.

General dentists had higher levels of concern on all issues than specialists. However, specialists and generalists agreed on the relative dangers of the chemicals covered in this survey.

Dentists’ thoughts

“I’d like to be doing all gold restorations.” (New Jersey dentist)
“All four of these need to be totally nailed down as to their safety, or lack thereof.” (Arkansas dentist)
“Two things that will bite dentistry in the butt are fluoride and amalgam if we don’t stop forcing them on the public.” (Idaho dentist)

Mercury

“150 years have not proved Amalgam to be dangerous.” (Arkansas dentist)
“Amalgams have saved billions of teeth!” (Washington dentist)
“A known toxin, no safe levels, should be banned.” (Louisiana dentist)

Lead

“Lead in dental casting alloy? Outrageous!” (Colorado dentist)
“Recent articles have debunked the worry over the amount of lead in ‘farmed-out’ crowns. Still, we need to monitor that work.” (California dentist)

Bisphenol-A (BPA)

“This stuff is everywhere. Composites without BPA just don’t hold up well.” (Wisconsin dentist)
“It’s probably not too dangerous, but don’t cast stones, Mr. Composite: you live in a glass house!” (New Jersey dentist)
“It’s ironic that many patients are removing long tested amalgam and replacing them with bisphenol composites of unproven safety.” (California dentist)

Fluoride

“It’s been shown to be effective, but we shouldn’t be medicating the whole population.” (Colorado dentist)
“The best public health measure ever instituted in this country for caries prevention.” (Texas dentist)
“Known to be toxic.” (California dentist)

Post your thoughts or read the complete dental public health threats survey results

Filed Under: Dental Safety, Dental Surveys Tagged With: BPA, Dental, dentist, dentistry, dentists, fluoride, health, lead, mercury, public health

FDA Finally Takes a Stand on Mercury… Sort Of

March 7, 2021 By Jim Du Molin

Agency Promises to Make a Decision Next Year

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has long avoided taking a public stand on the safety or danger of mercury in silver dental fillings. However, with a recent settlement in a lawsuit brought by the organization Moms Against Mercury, the governmental health agency has finally agreed to take a stand on the issue. Eventually.

The agreement calls for the FDA to complete its reclassification of dental amalgam by July of 2009. (The agency began that process in 2002.)

Some news articles have heralded this as a major change in the FDA’s attitude toward amalgam, with headlines making grand proclamations about a new post-amalgam era.

Can you guess which of the following is not a genuine headline?

These are attention-grabbing headlines, to be sure! The problem is, they’re not necessarily true per se. (And okay, I made the last one up.)

In the ADA’s response to news of the decision, the dental organization disputes these suggestions. “As far as the ADA is aware, the FDA has in no way changed its approach to, or position on, dental amalgam,” reads the statement.

As part of the agreement, the FDA has updated the consumer information provided by its website on the subject of mercury and dental amalgam.

“Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and fetuses. When amalgam fillings are placed in teeth or removed from teeth, they release mercury vapor. Mercury vapor is also released during chewing. FDA’s rulemaking will examine evidence concerning whether release of mercury vapor can cause health problems, including neurological disorders, in children and fetuses.”
— Questions and Answers on Dental Amalgam (FDA Consumer Information)

What do you think? Is this a new era, or just more of the same?

Filed Under: Dental News, Legal Tagged With: Amalgam, Dental, dentist, dentistry, dentists, FDA, fillings, mercury

Dentists Passionately Love and Hate Dental Amalgam (Video)

March 7, 2021 By Jim Du Molin

Dentists have used dental amalgam to make metal fillings for a long time, but the material is more controversial now than ever before.

Some worry the silver/mercury alloy may cause health problems, while others think it’s still superior to tooth-colored composite fillings.

Dentists Split Over Amalgam Fillings (VIDEO)

March 7, 2021 By Jim Du Molin

Dentists are deeply divided over the issue of mercury in amalgam fillings. In this survey, 52% of dentists reported they are no longer using amalgam. The other 48% are still placing amalgam fillings.

Some dentists criticized amalgam for its possible toxicity and tendency to fracture teeth; other dentists defended amalgam’s long history and superiority to more modern composite fillings.