Earlier this month, the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a vital recommendation against amalgam use, a cause which Dr. David Villarreal has donated to for decades, which will positively change the dental industry to better care for patients across the country. In response to Consumers for Dental Choice’s high-pressure three-year campaign, the FDA issued a new safety communication recommending against amalgam use in people who are at higher risk from the adverse effects of mercury exposure, including…
- Pregnant women and their developing babies
- Women who are planning to become pregnant
- Nursing women and their newborns and infants
- Children, especially (but not limited to) those younger than six years of age
- People with pre-existing neurological disease
- People with impaired kidney function
- People with known heightened sensitivity (allergy) to mercury or other components of dental amalgam.
This list, of course, encompasses a significant part of the American population. As such, FDA’s action has the potential to protect up to one-half of Americans from mercury in their mouths. Too, it is the essential intermediate step we need, now, to accomplish the full transition to mercury-free dentistry.
FDA’s decision culminates Consumers for Dental Choice’s intense campaign to persuade FDA to reconsider its amalgam policy. They organized the non-profit organization community behind the Chicago Declaration to End Dental Industry Mercury Use, had meetings with FDA top brass, called for, and got the FDA’s scientific advisory committee to reexamine the amalgam issue, brought 16 expert witnesses to that committee’s hearings, ran robust petition and public comment drives that showed FDA that we, the people, wanted a change in American amalgam policy and successfully brought about change.
To find out more about how amalgam affects your overall health, visit our biological dentist in Newbury Park CA.
