The ADA Needs New Thinking With Regard To Amalgam Fillings

In an About.com:Dentistry blog post, Tammy Davenport writes about the current stand-off between the ADA and the FDA regarding "silver" or amalgam fillings.

Silver fillings incorporate mercury, a toxic substance.

The amalgam issue gets me hot under the collar as some idiot dentists act like they are losing a best friend with amalgam. Their argument is lame.

Insurance companies want amalgam because it's cheap. Amalgam is a Civil War-era material. What else in medicine do we use from the 1800's? Nothing, as far as I know. That's why we have medical advances -- so we can offer patients new treatments that improve lives.

The alternative to mercury fillings is composite fillings, which are also called “tooth colored fillings,” or “bonded aesthetic fillings." Composites are technique-sensitive and are a much better alternative to amalgam fillings.

That's because composite fillings require less tooth to be removed during the procedure and once in place, strengthen the tooth, insulate better against hot and cold, and if they wear down, are easily repaired.

Refusing to give up amalgam fillings is akin to a surgeon saying, "All I'll do is amputate legs after a severe injury. Amputation is easy, and I do not want to learn microsurgery, which takes skill and is an investment."

If surgeons had that attitude there would be no advances in medicine.

And, I'm happy to state that in ten years of practice, I have not placed one amalgam filling. My patients are happy and the work they receive is superior -- since it's based on advanced training, modern medicine and new technologies.

Mercury Fillings Pose Risk to Pregnant Women

AOL News posted an article about how mercury fillings pose "health problems in pregnant women, children and fetuses according to the Food and Drug Administration after settling a related lawsuit."

*Finally* the FDA addresses this topic of mercury and the potential health risks.

Although I do not believe mercury is the cause of illnesses like some people do, I resent the ADA's (American Dental Association) support for amalgam (silver fillings) and how it perpetuates its use.

Amalgam is an antiquated material that breaks teeth when the mercury expands and contracts with temperature changes. It also stains teeth.

A technology from the Civil War era, amalgam handles very well in restoring many severely broken teeth, and it is cost effective, but many other *modern* materials exist that the ADA should support as vehemently.

Because of the ADA and its position, some dentists will not look at the advances in technology and materials; what they fail to realize is that amalgam fillings are an inferior treatment when compared to resin and tooth conserving porcelain restorations.

All the arguments for amalgam other than it is economic, are easily shot down with facts that support the other restorations and their ability to restore teeth soundly.

Perhaps if the dental school faculty themselves would learn to do composites properly, instead of bad mouthing them, they could teach the dental students 21st- century dentistry and the cycle would begin to break.

The ADA spends energy and money in defending the use of amalgam. Perhaps they could refocus their efforts on educating the public on the importance of regular dental appointments to check for oral cancer and periodontal health which is linked to heart disease and many other systemic diseases such as diabetes.

It also appears the insurance companies have their hand in this as they want to pay on the lowest reimbursed treatments -- which of course include amalgam. They do not want amalgam banned as it will cost them billions. Of course they want to pay out on a mercury-based fillings at compensation levels that have not increased that much from last century.