Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry Celebrates Enormous Successes
September 15, 2013
Story at-a-glance
Dental amalgam is composed of about 50 percent mercury, a
well-known neurotoxin. Evidence shows mercury is easily
released in the form of vapor each time you eat, drink,
brush your teeth or otherwise stimulate your teeth
In January in Geneva, at its 5th and final negotiation
session, delegates from over 140 nations agreed to a treaty
that will address mercury. Amalgam is part of that treaty –
every nation must take concrete steps to phase down its use
The treaty has a road map for how to phase down amalgam:
Switch dental school curriculum to composites as the primary
material; re-train dentists, change insurance to prefer
alternatives; develop a national plan to reduce amalgam use
If you donate to Consumers for Dental Choice this week (by
September 21), the Natural Health Research Foundation (which
I founded) will match, dollar-for-dollar, what you give
Today we begin the third
Mercury-free Dentistry
Week. We set aside an entire week for three reasons.
First, we build awareness of this stark fact: Dental
amalgam is 50 percent mercury.
Through misleading marketing to the public and through
gagging dentists who tried to speak the truth via its
control over dental boards, the American Dental Association
(ADA) convinced most consumers and parents that dental
amalgams are “silver fillings.” But amalgam has almost twice
as much mercury as silver. What a public deception!
We honor the world’s mercury-free dentists: those who
refuse to put in mercury fillings, those who stand up to the
American Dental Association, those who tell you the truth --
the whole truth -- when you are in the dental chair.
Second, we celebrate the enormous successes of the
past year by the Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry.
In January in Geneva, at its 5th and final negotiation
session, delegates from over 140 nations agreed to a treaty
that will address mercury. Amalgam is part of that treaty –
every nation must take concrete steps to phase down its use,
and a mechanism exists to petition for a full world
phase-out.
The treaty is having a direct impact in the United
States. On Easter Sunday, the largest newspaper in the
Midwest, the Chicago Tribune, published a story with this
headline excerpt: “Momentum is building to phase out dental
amalgam.”
Giving credit where it is due, we today wish to spotlight
the extraordinary work of The Campaign for Mercury-Free
Dentistry -- the project organized and led by Charlie Brown
of Consumers for Dental Choice.
Third, we chart the roadmap to victory.
The treaty has a road map for how to phase down amalgam –
switch dental school curriculum to composites as the primary
material; re-train dentists, change insurance to prefer
alternatives, develop a national plan to reduce amalgam use,
etc.
The Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry is not waiting
for this treaty to be formally signed and ratified; from
January on, Charlie and his team hit the ground running, on
every continent.
Fight for Mercury-Free Dentistry Is Now International
Charlie’s masterful plan started with defeating the notorious
amalgam gag rule – virtually ending the state licensing board
threats to shut down dentists who spoke out. Then his US team
worked to implement consumer disclosure laws at the state level,
before doing the now-famous lawsuit that compelled action by the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
From there, the cause went international. At the mercury
treaty negotiations, Charlie led a talented coalition of
environmentalists, dentists, scientists, physicians, attorneys,
and other experts from 16 nations to victory at the treaty
talks. Now, they are in the field -- in America, Asia, Europe,
and Africa -- working to get the treaty’s goals implemented.
Donate Now to Double Your Impact!
This week, we will match your gift to Consumers for Dental
Choice. The Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry – known in our
nation as Consumers for Dental Choice, known internationally as
the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry -- spearheaded a
remarkable campaign that has moved mercury-free dentistry from
the fringe to the mainstream. No longer are mercury-free
dentists outcasts in their communities; they are the pioneers –
and often the heroes.
So if you donate to Consumers for Dental Choice this week (by
September 21), the Natural Health Research Foundation (which I
founded) will match, dollar-for-dollar, what you give.
Indeed, we up the ante in 2013. In 2012 we matched up to
$50,000 raised. This year, we raise the bar by 50 percent --
matching up to $75,000 raised. Why? The stakes are truly that
big.
Why Public Awareness Counts So Much
Mercury is a neurotoxin, the most toxic and the most volatile
of the heavy metals. What parent for his or her child, or what
pregnant woman, would choose a “mercury filling”? Now you see
why the ADA, for years the holder of patents on amalgam (since
expired), did not want this truth known – why they had
promotional brochures for so-called “silver fillings.”
It’s time for all of us to tell our families, neighbors, and
colleagues:
“Silver” amalgam fillings are really mercury fillings.
Alternatives are available, affordable, and effective.
Amalgam is a primitive, polluting, pre-Civil War product
which cracks good teeth.
Amalgam should be rejected by every man, woman, and child in
a dentist chair. You can learn this directly from a mercury-free
dentist. It was my privilege a few months ago to speak to the
International Academy of Biological Dentistry & Medicine,
www.iabdm.org; at that event
too, the Academy was nice enough to organize a coffee for me,
humorously called “joe with Joe.”
2013 Is a Year of Great Celebration—Let Me Recount the Ways!
Amalgam is in the mercury treaty. It
was a three-year campaign, with five negotiations sessions
with all the nations; fifteen regional sessions, dozens of
papers and reports, and hundreds of meetings with individual
governments. The Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry was
there for us, each step of the way.
Repeatedly, Charlie and his team outwitted the World
Dental Federation (the ADA at the world level). The World
Dental Federation brought only white men from North America
and Europe; Charlie countered with a team of women and men
from every race and continent. The ADA white guys spoke
English, while Charlie’s team’s fluency extended to more
than 20 languages. Charlie’s team organized luncheons to
explain mercury-free dentistry; the nonplussed World Dental
Federation had no choice but to attend, and watch!
Amalgam is the only mercury-added
product in the treaty with a road map for how to
phase down its use. Nations have specific guidance
on what measures can be taken to transition to mercury-free
alternatives. So we don’t wait on target phase-out dates for
other products that are between 7 and 12 years off. For
amalgam, we begin now! Now is the time to begin the
phase-out of amalgam!
Being defeated at the treaty aboard, the ADA is
suffering a string of defeats at home. America’s TV
educator on medicine, Dr. Oz,
ran a great program that explained the health,
environmental, and technical problems with amalgam. Many of
you sent him compliments, but the ADA was irate. Unable to
persuade Dr. Oz to retract a single word, the ADA was
humiliated into
withdrawing their affiliation with Sharecare, a consumer
website co-founded by Dr. Oz.
The ADA tried to get the American Public Health
Association (APHA) to endorse the ongoing use of amalgam.
After winning the first round before the treaty was
completed, the ADA was rebuffed once APHA took a full look
at the issue. For organized dentistry, solidarity in favor
of amalgam has disintegrated. Until now a stalwart for
amalgam, the British Dental Journal recently
published an article calling on dentists to recognize that
amalgam is finished and to embrace composite.
A worldwide campaign has begun to get amalgam
manufacturers to switch -- and they are getting the message.
Dentsply, based in York, PA, is being challenged to switch
to alternatives, both via a grassroots campaign right there
in Pennsylvania,1
and a call from environmental and social justice
organizations on six continents not to dump amalgam in
developing nations.
The Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry has launched a
petition drive.2
It has over 8,000 names and is aiming to reach 10,000 --
this week. It’s your decision whether to sign, but the
common rule in these drives is… the more signatures, the
more effective.
Signaling they may be throwing in the towel, European
dental materials manufacturers devoted an entire day of its
recent two-conference to the topic, “The Demise of Amalgam
Use and Development of Enhanced Materials to Advance Novel
Dentistry.”3
The Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry is a
potent force on all six continents. The World
Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry elected, and kept,
Charlie as its president. In that role he has brought
together a powerhouse of talent – ten regional vice
presidents plus an array of chapter leaders -- people who
are scientists, dentists, environmentalists, a journalist, a
physician, professors, and attorneys.
Governments are seeking advice from Consumers for Dental
Choice on how to end amalgam. Here’s a good example:
MERCOSUR is the South American regional organization
analogous to the European Union. In 2013, Charlie Brown was
the first person from civil society ever invited to address
the MERCOSUR Environmental Ministers – which he did in
Montevideo, Uruguay, in May.
Working closely with Michael Bender of the Mercury Policy
Project and Elena Lymberidi-Settimo of the European
Environmental Bureau, the Campaign for Mercury-Free
Dentistry has laid the groundwork to win in Europe. With the
European Union weighing a phase-out of amalgam on a strict
timetable, they organized a team that went to the European
Parliament in Brussels.
Your Donation Makes a BIG Difference
We believe in inspiring progress -- and nowhere is the
progress more evident than the work of Consumers for Dental
Choice and its Campaign for Mercury-Free Dentistry. So consider
donating your funds where you know it will get results. We match
all gifts given during Mercury-Free Dentistry Week -- every
single dollar up to $75,000 raised.
People ask: Why is Consumers for Dental Choice succeeding
when earlier attempts and other strategies against amalgam
failed? Having seen Charlie Brown’s work up close for the past
two years, I can say that he runs clearly a lean, effective, and
efficient organization; your dollars go a long way with
Consumers for Dental Choice. But there is another reason:
Consumers for Dental Choice takes the Holistic Approach to
Advocacy. You wouldn’t go to traditional dentist who uses
mercury amalgam fillings. So why would you go to a traditional
activist to fight for mercury-free dentistry? That’s why so many
people, including myself, support Consumers for Dental Choice’s
holistic approach to advocacy.
“We’ve worked with mercury-free dentists and other
holistic health professionals from the very beginning,”
says Charlie Brown, executive director and national counsel
of Consumers for Dental Choice. “And we’ve learned a lot
from them that we then carry back to our work: campaigning
for mercury-free dentistry.”
How does it work? Here are three basic principles that every
holistic health care professional applies to heal patients… and
that Consumers for Dental Choice puts into action for
mercury-free dentistry.
Principle #1: Oral Health and Overall Health Are Linked
Holistic dentists, also called biological dentists, view your
teeth and gums as an integrated part of your entire body,
meaning that oral health problems can be linked to overall
health problems and vice versa. For example, they know that
putting a toxin, like the mercury in amalgam fillings, into your
teeth can be harmful to your overall health.
Like holistic dentists, Consumers for Dental Choice knows
that the problems with amalgam fillings go far beyond the tooth,
affecting your overall health and well-being in many ways...
some more well-known than others. If you are a regular reader,
you know amalgam releases mercury – a neurotoxin and
reproductive toxin – into your body. But did you know about
these other problems caused by the amalgam in your teeth?
Environment: Amalgam pollutes 1) water via dental clinic
releases and human waste; 2) air via cremation, dental
clinic emissions, sludge incineration, and respiration; and
3) land via landfills, burials, and fertilizer. Once in the
environment, dental mercury converts to its even more toxic
form: methylmercury and becomes a major source of mercury in
the fish people eat. Dental mercury in the environment can
cause brain damage and neurological problems, especially for
children and the unborn babies, according to the United
States Environmental Protection Agency.
Workplace: Due to mercury exposure from amalgam in the
workplace, studies have shown that dental workers have
elevated systemic mercury levels. Few of these dental
workers – mostly women of child-bearing age - are given
protective garb or air masks to minimize their exposure to
mercury; many are not aware of the risks of occupational
mercury exposure. As a result, dental workers have reported
neurological problems, reproductive failures, and birth
defects caused by amalgam in the workplace.
And the amalgam problem even goes beyond mercury…
Broken teeth: Placing amalgam requires the removal of a
significant amount of healthy tooth matter. This removal, in
turn, weakens overall tooth structure which increases the
need for future dental work. On top of that, amalgam
fillings - which expand and contract over time - crack teeth
and once again create the need for still more dental work.
Consent: Most dentists do not inform consumers that
amalgam contains mercury. As a result, over 76% of consumers
do not know that amalgam is mainly mercury according to
Zogby polls. But once they are informed, 77% of people do
not want mercury fillings - and they were even willing to
pay more to avoid this unnecessary source of mercury
exposure.
Illegal Uses: Amalgam isn’t only used by dentists… it
can also fall into the hands of people who want it for
criminal purposes or for a dangerous form of gold mining.
For example, amalgam is commonly shipped to developing
countries labeled for dental use, but then it is diverted to
illegal use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Not
only are the miners exposed to the risks of mercury
poisoning, but the dental mercury they use to extract gold
is released into the environment.
Social Injustice: While middle class consumers opt for
mercury-free filling materials, people in developing
nations, low-income families, minorities, military
personnel, prisoners, and people with disabilities are still
subjected to amalgam. Racial minorities are more likely to
receive amalgam; for example, dentists place almost 25% more
mercury fillings in American Indian patients than in white
patients. In his testimony before Congress, former Virginia
state NAACP president Emmitt Carlton described this
injustice as "choice for the rich, mercury for the poor."
“Our advocacy is much richer – and more effective – because
we look at the overall problem of amalgam, not just one narrow
aspect of the problem,” says Charlie Brown.
Principle #2: Every Treatment Plan for Every Patient Is Unique
Holistic dentists know that every patient is different; hence
they carefully tailor treatments for each individual patient.
Likewise, Consumers for Dental Choice knows that every
government official and every forum is different. “So we tailor
our strategy – that is, our message, our style, who is speaking,
and even what language is spoken – to rise to every occasion,”
explains Charlie Brown.
For example, Consumers for Dental Choice designed a legal
strategy focused on First Amendment Rights to save the licenses
of mercury-free dentists who were persecuted by dental boards a
decade ago. Dentists had their licenses threatened – or even
taken away – because they were speaking out for mercury-free
dentistry. But Charlie argued that their speech was protected by
the First Amendment right to free speech… and the courts agreed.
Then Consumers for Dental Choice launched a grassroots
strategy to obtain laws requiring dentists to distribute amalgam
fact sheets to patients. Basing the arguments on consumers’
basic human right to choose for themselves what filling material
is used in their bodies, they succeeded in passing fact sheet
laws in Maine, Connecticut, California, New Hampshire, and the
city of Philadelphia.
Most recently, Consumers for Dental Choice had to make a fast
transition to a diplomatic strategy highlighting amalgam’s
environmental impact at the mercury treaty negotiations – and
talked amalgam into this new environmental treaty! That’s why
your gift is so important now.
Principle #3: Working as a Team Is Paramount
Holistic dentists know that teamwork is important to achieve
optimal health for their patients. They work with dental
hygienists, dental assistants, naturopaths, nutritionists,
homeopaths, chiropractors, and so many other health
professionals to keep you well. Consumers for Dental Choice
knows more than a little about teamwork; they have built the
largest network ever assembled to fight for mercury-free
dentistry.
“With the first of five mercury treaty talks fast
approaching in February 2010, we knew it was time to
organize the mercury-free dentistry advocates from around
the globe into a strong voice for patients, dental
professionals, and the environment,” recalls Charlie
Brown. “Hence, with our friends from around the world,
we founded the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry to
be the umbrella coalition fighting for mercury-free fillings
at the treaty talks… and we saw support for this cause
skyrocket like never before.”
The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry rapidly grew to
include organizations from every inhabited continent. The
experienced advocates working with the World Alliance speak more
than 12 languages and hold advanced degrees in dentistry,
medicine, law, international policy, journalism, environmental
engineering, science, and economics. “With this much support, we
were in an excellent position as we entered into the final
treaty talk last January.”
Now, the mercury treaty is done – and amalgam is in it! The
team accomplished three things in the mercury treaty, formally
called the Minamata Convention on Mercury:
For the first time, nations have acknowledged that
amalgam waste management is not enough. The final treaty
language calls for nations to take measures “to phase down
the use of dental amalgam.”
Amalgam is the only mercury-added product in
the treaty with a road map for how to phase down
its use, providing nations with specific guidance on what
measures can be taken to transition to mercury-free
alternatives. That’s how seriously the nations are taking
this issue. Phase-down measures listed in the treaty include
adopting national objectives to minimize amalgam use,
promoting the use of mercury-free alternatives, training
dentists and dental students on alternatives, encouraging
insurance policies that disfavor amalgam, and ending the use
of unencapsulated bulk amalgam.
The American Dental Association fought hard to keep
amalgam out of Annex C, the part of the treaty that will be
regularly reviewed and can be easily amended. Consumers for
Dental Choice with the World Alliance team pushed hard to
get amalgam into Annex C – and won! So now, the treaty’s
amalgam provision that currently calls for a phase-down can
be upgraded later… to set a phase-out date that will end
amalgam use once and for all.
“Everyone at the treaty talks was surprised by
how much progress we were able to make on the amalgam
issue… from off the table to its own section in the
mercury treaty,” says Charlie Brown. “This
treaty is the framework we need to move forward toward
mercury-free dentistry everywhere.”
And the team Charlie Brown assembled is doing just that, from
training dentists to use alternatives in Africa… to speaking
with dental students in Asia… to working with environmentalists
in Latin America… to explaining the science to governments in
Europe… to leading the grassroots protest against amalgam
manufacturers right here in the U.S.
How You Can Support Mercury-Free Dentistry
Consumers for Dental Choice and its team have made amazing
progress toward mercury-free dentistry. But there’s still hard
work ahead as Consumers for Dental Choice is now running
education programs for consumers… holding training sessions for
dentists… and organizing briefings for governments around the
world. You can help stop dental mercury today! Will you please
consider a donation to Consumers for Dental Choice, a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization dedicated to advocating mercury-free
dentistry?
Donations are tax-exempt and can be made online at
www.toxicteeth.org. Checks can be mailed to:
Consumers for Dental Choice
316 F St., N.E., Suite 210
Washington DC 20002
For updates on the movement for mercury-free dentistry, join
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newsletter. Thank you for supporting mercury-free dentistry!