Dental News - US regulators back down on dental amalgam issue

Daniel Zimmermann, DTI

Tue. 4 January 2011

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NEW YORK, NY, USA/LEIPZIG, Germany: The US government should review its existing amalgam regulations, an advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggested. At a public hearing in mid-December, they rejected claims that the agency which oversees the regulation of medical devices in the US, ignored potential health risks in a 2009 ruling that said amalgam is safe. Anti-amalgam activists have been urging the FDA to revise or take back its decision over the last 18 months.

Health effects from amalgam, including neurological disorders and allergic reactions, have been observed in some clinical studies but the evidence still remains inclusive. Recent data from the US and Portugal has shown that the long-term exposure from dental fillings in children is lower than previously expected. However, other studies have indicated links between mercury and several systemic diseases.

Fillings containing mercury have declined by almost 50 per cent in the last decade yet, the US is still one of the world’s largest producers of dental mercury waste.

Dentists have backed the panel’s recommendations to take a second look at the issue. “As a science-based organisation representing a science-based profession, we support this,” Prof. Dr Raymond F. Gist, president of the American Dental Association said in a statement. “As with all clinical issues, our position on amalgam is based on the best available science.”

But this may not be enough for the critics. Activists have announced to push for a full ban of the material. The use of amalgam in dental fillings is already forbidden in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

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