“How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see…How many deaths will it take til he knows that too many people have died? The answer, my friend is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Bob Dylan, “Blowin’ in the Wind”
Once again the American Dental Association (ADA) has showed its narrow-minded and antiquated view of the mercury issue. In February of 2009, in its wisdom as a protector of the environment, the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program agreed on the need to develop a global legally binding instrument on mercury. A letter requesting information was sent to many countries, including the USA. In the September 6, 2010 issue of the ADA News, reported their the ADA’s answer. Ignoring the overwhelming and mounting evidence of the toxicity of mercury silver fillings (amalgam) and swimming against tide of the the obvious national and world trend toward the elimination of it as a restorative material in dental treatment,, the ADA sent a letter in August 2010 that ” urged US negotiators on a global mercury treaty to consider the health benefits of amalgam. The ADA has been in regular contact with the State Department as international negotiations over a potential mercury control treaty intensify.” They have made several recommendations, one of which is that the choice of restorative materials must rest with the patient and dentist. It is particularly irritating and ironic to note that the ADA has done everything possible to eliminate that choice, including, but not limited to, harassing anti-mercury dentists.
Since that time, In February of 2011, I received the following information from Charlie Brown Of Consumers For Dental Choice about the Mercury Treaty Negotiations held in Chiba, Japan
“Our meeting kicked off with the announcement that the World Health Organization has withdrawn the biased paper that the American Dental Association so heavily cited as “reinforcing dental amalgam as a safe and effective restorative material.”** The alleged WHO report had been passed off as the conclusions of the team of scientists, environmentalists, and dentists who met in November 2009 to discuss the future of amalgam. We exposed the paper as nothing more than a propaganda piece slapped together by a rogue dentist inside WHO who failed even to consult the other meeting participants before signing their names to his paper (needless to say they were furious; they did not remember ever declaring amalgam safe). Then, we organized the worldwide condemnation of this paper that led to its hurried retraction. You can learn how we accomplished this feat step-by-step by watching this video interview, courtesy of filmmaker Kelly Gallagher.***
Because of our work, the first draft of the treaty lists amalgam as one of only five mercury products to be phased out. While the war is not won, we did succeed in keeping it on the list for now.
Thanks to the efforts of our regional vice presidents Dr. Naji Kodeih and Dominique Bally, both the Arab League and the African region announced that they support the phase-out of amalgam and the promotion of alternatives.
We gained a valuable new ally dedicated to ending dental mercury: Health Care Without Harm. We congratulate Health Care Without Harm for convincing the Mexico City Health Secretariat to deauthorize the purchase of amalgam in the city’s hospitals and obtaining a discussion paper from Argentina calling for a phase down of amalgam and use of alternatives.
But the bottom line: The delegates made no major decisions in this early round, not on amalgam, not on anything. Thus how amalgam will ultimately be addressed in this treaty will not be determined until the third negotiating session, to be held in an African city in October. Until all the nations re-convene for negotiations, our World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry will be active in each region of the world.
On March 5, 2011, a “town meeting” conducted by FDA’s Center for Devices turned into a major media event highlighting the agency’s failed amalgam policy. Floridians turned out en masse in Orlando on March 5, outraged over FDA’s failure to protect even children from dental mercury. The event was not only front-page news in Florida – it reached press outlets clear across the country: the Los Angeles Times proclaimed that “Mercury in dental fillings comes under fire at FDA meeting in Orlando.”
And Dr. Shuren told the Orlando Sentinel that “If I had my druthers, I would like to say something this year,” noting that the agency would have to reconsider the scientific and legal issues surrounding the amalgam issue. It is hardly a timetable, but it’s more than FDA has been willing to say in Washington.
Then on March 10, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration convened a Town Meeting in a Dallas suburb. Several dentists, a dental hygienist, and a number of victims of mercury toxicity turned out. Although the Town Meeting was open to any subject, amalgam dominated. The huge press coverage – the major Dallas TV stations and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram – was exclusively about mercury fillings!*
Presiding was the very man in charge of reconsidering FDA’s abysmal amalgam rule: Center for Devices Director Jeff Shuren. Dr. Shuren told the Texas press:
“Now, the [FDA scientific] panel did …point out that there may be certain populations who are more sensitive to dental amalgam, like young children and pregnant women.”
“We may decide to change our current regulation and that could include changing the status of dental amalgam, which means it comes off the market or has other controls on it or we may decide to leave things as they are.”
So FDA’s point man on amalgam has announced that FDA is seriously considering protecting children and unborn babies from amalgam.
Then on May 5, I received the following news.
In an extraordinary development that will change the global debate about amalgam, the United States government has announced that it supports a “phase down, with the goal of eventual phase out by all Parties, of mercury amalgam.” This statement – a radical reversal of its former position that “any change toward the use of dental amalgam is likely to result in positive public health outcomes” – is part of the U.S. government’s submission for the upcoming third round of negotiations for the world mercury treaty.*
While couched in diplomatic hedging – remember it is still early in the negotiations – this new U.S. position makes three significant breakthroughs for the mercury-free dentistry movement:
- The U.S. calls for the phase-out of amalgam ultimately and recommends actions to “phase down” its use immediately. Incredibly, the government adopted three actions that the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry and Consumers for Dental Choice proposed at the negotiating session in Chiba, Japan. Our key ally, The Mercury Policy Project, laid the groundwork for this success at a World Health Organization meeting in 2009!
- The U.S. speaks up for protecting children and the unborn from amalgam, recommending that the nations “educat[e] patients and parents in order to protect children and fetuses.”
- The U.S. stands up for the human right of every patient and parent to make educated decisions about amalgam.
What does this mean? Our position – advocating the phase-out of amalgam – is now the mainstream because the U.S. government supports it. Who is the outlier now? It’s the pro-mercury faction, represented by the World Dental Federation and the American Dental Association. With the U.S. continuing its leadership role in this treaty, we will broadcast the U.S. position to other governments around the world, encouraging them to support amalgam “phase downs” leading to phase-outs not only globally, but within each of their countries.
We applaud the U.S. government. But tough work lies ahead. For example, we must demonstrate to the world that the available alternatives – such as composites and the adhesive materials used in atraumatic restorative treatment (“ART”) – can cost less than amalgam and will increase access to dental care particularly in developing countries.
For now though, let’s mark this watershed in the mercury-free dentistry movement: the debate has shifted from “whether to end amalgam” to “how to end amalgam.”
Even now, after all this, in the May 16 issue of the ADA News, an editor’s note quoted the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs and Council on Government Affairs in answer to a dentist who questioned the new stand of the FDA and other organizations. “The “important health issue” relate to the value of amalgam as a public health tool along with the importance of prevention-based reducing the demand for amalgam… not to any concern over amalgam safety. … the term “phase down” refers to phase down in demand for amalgam (and all restorative materials), as a result of increased focus on oral disease prevention.”
Yes, it is true that increased attention on oral disease prevention is the goal. However, my take on the rulings is that if tooth restoration is necessary, don’t use amalgam. I guess that one can twist any statements to serve their own agenda. It would be funny if it were not dealing with the health of human beings and the poisoning of our environment.
“When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?” Pete Seeger “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”