An Informative Newsletter

Below I have copied an email newsletter I received from the Huggins foundation. I am thankful for the timely information!

ADA Takes Bold Protective Step

Dentistry has rehashed the same argument about, should dentistry place mercury fillings because they are cheap, or ban them because they contain 50% of the most toxic poison known that is not radioactive?

Last year's Congressional hearing on "how safe mercury is in the mouth" as presented by the FDA – lost by a vote of 13 to 7. Nearly 2 to 1. A committee of scientists evaluated the presentation as well as those by several "witnesses". Dr. Boyd Haley and Dr. Hal Huggins presented scientific data refuting mercury safety.

After mulling the presentations over for a year, the FDA has stated in writing that they will present new standards for the use of mercury fillings by the end of the year 2007. Based on that, the ADA sent communications to all dentists telling them to immediately start informing their patients that mercury was in "silver" fillings. Especially discuss this with pregnant women and parents of children in order to reduce the number of law suits.

As stated in a letter from Charles G. Brown, National Counsel, Consumers for Dental Choice:

"In the July edition of Dental Practice Report, the long-time general counsel of the A.D.A., Peter Sfikas (who stepped down eight months ago) advised dentists that FDA would likely contraindicate amalgam to classes of patients, and dentists must begin immediately protect their legal position by (1) asking patients if have mercury hypersensitivity, and (2) giving precise warnings about mercury exposure to pregnant women and parents of young children."

The FDA could reclassify mercury from Class I (of no health significance, where it is now) to either Class II, which calls for record keeping of who had mercury placed in their mouth, or to Class III which would constitute a total ban in dentistry due to its toxicity. The ADA is hoping for Class II, the public pushing for Class III.

The ADA just paid for a study on "the economic impact of mercury-free dentistry". This may indicate their fear factor. Another item that may be related is that dentists have just been targeted as high income people with little litigation, so a ripe terrain for new lawyers. This as a result of the fact that there are more students in law schools now than lawyers in practice in all 50 states put together. Attorneys are just now finding out that almost all dentists have malpractice insurance, but that placement of amalgam may or may not qualify for insurance coverage. The dentists actually mix mercury with metallic powder to form amalgam. This constitutes manufacturing a "product". Do dentists have product liability insurance? No. That opens Pandora's box for litigation from both the malpractice aspect, since dentistry has been aware of its toxicity since 1840, and dentists are also wide open for personal loss from the product liability aspect.

The ADA held its national meeting in San Francisco September 28 through October 2, 2007. In addressing the issue of mercury toxicity, the ADA decided to mandate dentists using mercury scrubbers to remove mercury from their suction devices before dumping it into the sewage system.

Thus, the ADA is protecting the sewage, and ignoring human health that it is sworn to protect. How bold.

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In an effort to inform the public of both sides of the issue, the Toxic Element Research Foundation (TERF) has just released a 45 minute DVD of the July 23, 2007 edition of the New Zealand 60 Minutes franchise examining the dental mercury issue. Both sides were presented in 60 Minutes fashion. A representative of the New Zealand dental association and Dr. Huggins were both interviewed recently in Auckland, New Zealand. After the program, Dr. Huggins then comments on some of the presentations from the Washington DC encounter between the FDA and the Congressionally appointed committee. He shows a few clips of the actual session in D.C. with comments to accompany. There are a few testimonials from previously mercury damaged patients. All in all, the DVD takes the place of trying to tell friends and family about the mercury issue in a 3rd party format. A tax deductible donation of $25 to the Toxic Element Research Foundation (TERF) will secure you a copy (including US postage). Call for your copy through Dr. Huggins' toll free number: 1-866-948-4638. The Toxic Element Research Foundation is currently paying for laboratory fees for testing that proves the toxicity of dental materials in humans. Any additional donations will be put to good use for the health of all of us.

Thank you for your interest in eliminating this unnecessary poison that provides more birth defects than all other known methods. As Huggins says in ending his talk, "Clean our DNA. Ban mercury fillings."

Hal A. Huggins DDS, MS