10/29/2020
I received notice today that the FDA is finally regulating the use of mercury dental fillings due to known health problems with mercury toxicity. The link to the FDA direct information is at the bottom of the message. If you have mercury fillings, have them replaced through a dentist that uses safe removal methods. Sue Peck
Charles Brown, from Consumers for Dental Choice writes:
I want to make sure you know about the breakthrough we made at FDA on 24 September! As you know, government policy is not self-enforcing – it takes intense civil society engagement. Physicians must make this vital information available to their patients.
In response to Consumers for Dental Choice’s high-pressure three-year campaign, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a new safety communication* recommending against amalgam use in people who are at higher risk from the adverse effects of mercury exposure, including…
Pregnant women and their developing babies
Women who are planning to become pregnant
Nursing women and their newborns and infants
Children, especially (but not limited to) those younger than six years of age
People with pre-existing neurological disease
People with impaired kidney function
People with known heightened sensitivity (allergy) to mercury or other components of dental amalgam.
This list, of course, encompasses a significant part of the American population. As such, FDA’s action has the potential to protect up to one-half of Americans from mercury in their mouths. Too, it is the essential intermediate step we need, now, to accomplish the full transition to mercury-free dentistry.
FDA’s decision culminates our intense campaign to persuade FDA to reconsider its amalgam policy. We organized the non-profit organization community behind the Chicago Declaration to End Dental Industry Mercury Use….we had meetings with FDA top brass….we called for and got the FDA’s scientific advisory committee to reexamine the amalgam issue….we brought 16 expert witnesses to that committee’s hearings….we ran robust petition and public comment drives that showed FDA that we, the people, wanted a change in American amalgam policy….and we got it!
It’s now up to us to make sure that the recommendations in this safety communication are implemented.
Charlie
Charles G. Brown, Executive Director
Consumers for Dental Choice, www.ToxicTeeth.org
* FDA’s full safety communication on amalgam is available at https://www.fda.gov/.../recommendations-about-use-dental...
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