EU: Urgent dental amalgam is imperative

The three EU institutions (European Parliament, Council of the European Union and European Commission) reached an interim agreement to ban the use of dental amalgam for children under the age of 15 and for pregnant and lactating women as of July 1, 2018. Filler. This action by the European Union is supported by the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT). IAOMT is a non-profit organization that encourages the worldwide use of dental amalgams.

Dr. Tammy DeGregorio, president of IAOMT, explained: “Hydrogen is a toxic substance and its use in silver fillings can cause environmental harm and may increase Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, infertility, anxiety, depression, The risks of fatigue and many other health problems, and the feasibility of alternative materials for these fillers have existed for decades.The most important thing is to let the world, led by Europe, begin to take action to limit the use of amalgam in dentistry. The more effective way is to disable it completely."

IAOMT collects hundreds of research reports on the health and environmental hazards of dental amalgams and uses these scientific literature to provide important resources for dentists, physicians, policy makers and the general public.

About 45% of dental patients worldwide, including the United States, still use amalgam, and these mercury-containing fillers are found in the mouths of hundreds of millions of people. Many patients do not know that these silver fillings contain 50% mercury. When they know that such mercury-containing materials may harm the environment and may also increase the health risks of dental patients and fetuses in the abdomen and breast milk, they usually Extremely shocked.

Some consumers will remove this type of mercury-containing filler due to failure of filling materials, medical reasons, or personal preferences. However, removal of this amalgam filler without safety measures may result in the release of mercury that poses a threat to the environment, dental patients, dentists and other related personnel. Therefore, IAOMT has also developed a safe amalgam removal technique (SMART) supported by science that provides important safety precautions such as dental amalgam separators, water injection, high-capacity suction systems, and mercury filter masks. .

IAOMT also created the "The SMART Choice" resource, explaining what SMART standards are, how important they are, and how patients find SMART-trained dentists. The service of ordinary people encourages patients and dentists to communicate on how to safely remove amalgam fillings.