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Share your Testimonies
3/14/2005
Share your Stories with us of how you have gone form Sickness to Health with the Removal of your Mercury Filings.
Your Story may be used to Help others in their struggle to achieve Optimum Health. Please note your City, State and Country.
By submitting your Personal Story you are granting us permission for usage.
Please email your story to: igmktsvc@iag.net
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California Dental Board Vote on Mercury Fillings
7/16/2003
Congresswoman Diane E. Watson today applauded the California Dental Board’s July 11 ruling that directs all dentists to supply their patients with a dental materials fact sheet on the potential dangers of mercury fillings (commonly known as silver fillings). The ruling implements a 1992 law, introduced by then State Senator Watson, that requires all dentists practicing in California to provide to their patients a statement on "the risks and efficacies" of dental fillings. The fact sheet advises all patients that mercury fillings "can harm the developing brain of a child or fetus...and cause birth defects and other reproductive harm."
"After a decade of waiting, I am very pleased that the Dental Board of California has directed all dentists to give patients a dental materials fact sheet," said Congresswoman Watson. "It finally implements a 1992 law that the Dental Board has constantly been criticized for ignoring. Consumers and parents have a right to know, in advance, the risks of placing a product containing a significant amount of mercury, one of the most toxic elements known to man, in their mouths or the mouths of their children. Now patients will be informed that there may be some harm in mercury fillings, and will have a choice."
The new fact sheet was proposed by Dr. Chet Yokoyama, who chaired a committee appointed by board president Dr. Alan Kaye. The board voted 7-1 in favor of the new mercury risk fact sheet.
Earlier this year, Congresswoman Watson introduced H.R. 1680, The Mercury in Dental Filling
Disclosure and Prohibition Act, which outlaws after 2008 the use of mercury in dental fillings.
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Mercury Filling: Should your dentist inform you of the risks?
Mercury or silver amalgam fillings have been linked to multiple sclerosis, arthritis and mental disorders, but many of the 76 percent of American dentists who use these fillings don't tell their patients about the risks.
Troubled by this practice, Thomas Anderson, D.M.D., a dentist practicing in Houlton, Maine, and his wife, Pamela, recently designed a bill that would make Maine the first state to require dentists to counsel their patients on the potential hazards of mercury exposure and discuss alternative treatments and materials. Unfortunately, their bill did not pass - in large part because of vehement opposition by the American and Maine dental associations.
"They aren't denying that mercury is a toxic metal," says Pamela Anderson, "so why aren't more people worried about mercury going into our mouths?"
The Maine Dental Association does not encourage its members to discuss alternatives with their patients, but requiring written consent, the association says, would imply a risk where none exists, causing patients unnecessary worry.
Still, says Anderson, it's a choice that should be left up to the individual. "Patients should be able to weigh the risks and benefits and decide for themselves," she says. If you want to urge the ADA to change its position on the use of mercury fillings, call Consumers for Dental Choice at 1-800-510-0151. For more information on mercury fillings and alternatives, contact the Environmental Dental Association at 1-800-388-8124.
--Natural Health |
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