The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a 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 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 millions and millions of Americans from mercury in their mouths.
The decision culminates our three-year campaign that successfully persuaded FDA to reconsider its amalgam policy. Consumers for Dental Choice organized the non-profit organization community behind theChicago Declaration to End Dental Industry Mercury Use….we had meetings with FDA top brass….we called for and got the FDA's scientific advisory committee to reexamine the amalgam issue….we brought 16 expert witnesses to that committee's hearings….we ran robust petition and public comment drives that showed FDA that we, the people, wanted a change in American amalgam policy….and we got it!
Thousands of activists and donors brought us to this point – thank you all. Now it's now up to us to make sure that the recommendations in this safety communication are implemented!