Note from Health Lover, Ilena Rosenthal:
http://ilenarose.blogspot.com

Once again, the Quackwatch / Snake-oil Vigilante Industry Mouths are
proven to be wrong.

A short while ago, I  read Barrett's backup mouth, Fake SkepDoc,
Harriet Hall on the Healthfraud List denying that the FDA had made any
changes ... is there anything they won't lie about ? ? ? ?

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Harriet Hall
Subject: [healthfraud] Mercury Amalgams Are Safe

"Thanks to listmembers who alerted me to the recent announcements by
the Consumers for Dental Choice and by the ADA in response to the
lawsuit against the FDA. The Philadelphia Inquirer and my local paper
both falselyreported that the FDA had changed its stance on mercury
fillings."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/us-issu
es-health-warning-over-mercury-fillings-856582.html

They're in millions of mouths worldwide, but have been linked to heart
disease and Alzheimer's. Now a report concedes they may have a toxic
effect on the body.

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Sunday, 29 June 2008

Amalgam dental fillings – which contain the highly toxic metal mercury
– pose a health risk, the world's top medical regulatory agency has
conceded.

After years of insisting the fillings are safe, the US government's
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a health warning about
them. It represents a landmark victory for campaigners, who say the
fillings are responsible for a range of ailments, including heart
conditions and Alzheimer's disease.

Earlier this month, in an unprecedented U-turn, the FDA dropped much
of its reassuring language on the fillings from its website,
substituting: "Dental amalgams contain mercury, which may have
neurotoxic effects on the nervous systems of developing children and
foetuses." It adds that when amalgam fillings are "placed in teeth or
removed they release mercury vapour", and that the same thing happens
when chewing.

The FDA is now reviewing its rules and may end up restricting or
banning the use of the metal.

Mercury is placed in tens of millions of teeth worldwide each year.
About 125 tons of it is used annually in dental treatments in the EU
alone. And it was used in eight million fillings (including one
million in children and young people) in Britain in 2002-03, the last
year for which the British Dental Association (BDA) can produce
figures.

The association continues to insist that amalgam is "safe, durable and
cost-effective" and "does not pose a risk of systemic disease", though
it advises pregnant women to avoid "any dental intervention or
medication". However, Norway and Denmark banned mercury from fillings
earlier this year. Sweden has cut its use by more than 90 per cent
over the past decade, and mercury use is also heavily restricted in
Finland and Japan.

Mercury makes up about half of an amalgam filling, where it is mixed
with silver and small amounts of copper and tin. The combination –
which has now been used for some 150 years – is extremely durable, and
its supporters used to stress that it locked in the mercury. They now
accept, however, that mercury vapour escapes, is breathed in, and gets
into the bloodstream and organs, but they also stress that levels are
very low. Opponents argue that the metal accumulates in the body and
no safe level is known.

Some research suggests that mercury from dental fillings may be linked
to high blood pressure, infertility, fatigue, disorders of the central
nervous system, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. Dentists
have been found to have high levels of mercury in their bodies as well
being more susceptible to brain tumours and problems with
concentration and manual dexterity.

However, a study that followed 507 Portuguese and American children
for seven years after they received amalgam or mercury-free fillings
found no differences in the rates of neurological symptoms between the
two groups.

Nevertheless, more and more dentists – now some 500 in Britain – are
setting up mercury-free practices, and more patients are demanding
alternative fillings made of resin and glass.

The alternatives are more expensive and not as strong as amalgam,
which leads the defenders of mercury to say that only mercury will do
for molars, which carry most of the burden of chewing. And some have
released another toxic material, the gender-bending chemical bisphenol
A. But the alternatives are getting stronger, and the chemical is
being used less in the newer products.

Even the BDA now says that the alternatives "have improved over time",
adding: "Trends towards greater use of these materials imply that
there is to be a sustained reduction in the use of dental amalgam."