The Life Sciences Research Office (LSRO) would like us to take comfort from their new report, which concludes that the peer-reviewed scientific and medical literature published since 1996 reveals little evidence of a link between dental mercury and health problems. Washington-based Consumers for Dental Choice said the report, issued by LSRO under contract to the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is "the worst kind of deception on American families" because it rejects abundant evidence that mercury dental amalgam may cause serious health problems. "The consultant's report is 'bogus' because it draws inappropriate conclusions from flawed research," says Charles Brown, counsel for Consumers for Dental Choice. Dr. Boyd Haley, the chairman of the chemistry department of Kentucky University, said of the report that it “represents an intellectual travesty and an ethical failure of the government and dental agencies whose assignment is to protect Americans, especially American children from exposure to neurotoxins.”

The LSRO admits that the scientific evidence consistently demonstrates the human body does absorb mercury vapor released from dental amalgam restorations but they state they could not find a causal link between this poisonous vapor and adverse health effects. Mercury is the most toxic material in life that people are presently being exposed to, except perhaps to depleted Uranium on the battlefield. Mercury vapor, a highly dangerous poison, even at the lowest concentrations, has already been shown by many scientists to create a considerable list of health problems including heart disease, cancer and severe neurological problems. The value of 0.08 micrograms of mercury absorbed per day per dental amalgam is what most dental organizations like the American Dental Association (ADA) admits to but chemists commonly measure, in repeatable laboratory experiments, 4-10 micrograms. The ADA has been underestimating and deceiving the public by a factor of 100 when it comes to how much mercury vapor escapes from dental amalgam and this is crucial when calculating health threats.

Health officials around the world strictly control exposure to workers at levels of concentrations that are easily exceeded by a mouth with more than a few dental amalgams, which are fifty percent mercury by weight. The LSRO, in issuing this report, is speaking officially for the NIDCR, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Office of the Chief Dental Officer of the Public Health Service. It is interesting to note that the report specifically used the words “little evidence” admitting actually that there is evidence of a link between dental mercury and health problems, just not enough, in their opinion, to warn the public about its use in dentistry. The report essentially is admitting that people are being poisoned, that mercury is being absorbed, but that no health problems are seen to result “except in rare instances of allergic reactions.”

The Consumers for Dental Choices’ claim about deception can be focused on these last key words that are hugely popular among health officials who routinely deceive the public with this word “rare.” In this case, the LSRO makes the deception obvious because mercury, and its vapor, is poisonous to everyone, there are no exceptions. Allergic reaction is not an appropriate medical concept for it projects an image that mercury is not a poison or only affects a few “rare” sensitive persons adversely. The NIDCR seems intent on misleading the public about the dangers of placing mercury in peoples’ mouths. Certainly they ignore reports from Sweden that demonstrate that removal of dental amalgams from approximately 700 subjects with neurological problems led to clinical improvements in about 70 percent of the subjects. Dr. Haley said, “If mercury is implicated in health problems these officials do not want to know about it.” Haley continued saying that these people and organizations are “following the path of ignoring basic research in the area of mercury toxicity.”

It is true that people’s sensitivity or ability to eliminate mercury from the body varies widely. Thus the concentration level necessary to provoke negative health consequences also varies widely. What the NIDCR is not saying, and does not want the public to know, is that on a cellular level all mercury vapors have an adverse biological effect. This effect or reaction has nothing to do with allergies; it has to do with the capacity of each atom or compound with mercury in it to damage cells, neurons, hormones like insulin, insulin receptor sites, arterial walls, red blood cells, and just about any and every part of human biochemistry. Mercury vapor is easily absorbed through the lungs (as the NIDCR is admitting) and makes a mess out of our body’s enzymes on an almost direct one to one ratio to the number of atoms of mercury absorbed. That some people have an extra abundance of enzymes and can afford to lose more to absorbed mercury than others has nothing to do with allergies.

It has been recently said that federal drug regulators are "virtually incapable of protecting America" from unsafe drugs, and that "we are faced with what may be the single greatest drug safety catastrophe in the history of this country or the history of the world,” said Dr. David Graham. These words that Dr. Graham spoke to Congress have special importance when it comes to the dental division of the FDA. Graham cannot be easily dismissed. He has been at the FDA for 20 years and is an associate director of its Office of Drug Safety and knows what is going on there. Concerns about the FDA's safety monitoring have been growing and will reach crisis proportions when the truth of the dental division of the FDA finally comes to light. A letter, signed by twenty-two members of Congress last week, expressed strong dismay at recent events at the FDA in regards to their (FDA) attempts to discredit Dr. Graham's testimony said, "This shameful behavior by management cannot continue and we demand you put a stop to it." When it comes to the dental branch of the FDA the word shame does not quite cover what they are guilty of.

“The Bureaucrats in the FDA dental branch will do anything to prevent a solid, unbiased study in this area that simply shows that amalgam in a sealed test tube still releases a lot of mercury and that this level increases dramatically (about 8-10 fold) on brushing 30 seconds with a standard toothbrush,” said Dr. Haley, who has been wondering how long the American FDA will be able to hide Americans from what is going on in other parts of the civilized world, which are eliminating dental amalgams to reduce human mercury exposure. Obviously other governments, organizations and scientists know of the health dangers of mercury placed in the mouth but the FDA and the NIDCR is insistent on saying dental amalgam is safe. Essentially it seems like American democracy, with the full collaboration of the free press, is taking on a behind the iron curtain type mentality hoping their citizens don’t catch on to the truth when it comes to dental amalgam.

What marks a truly indecent person or group is an attitude that scoffs at or diminishes the suffering of others. Psychopaths are notorious for being completely without remorse for even the most cruel and heartless acts that hurt and destroy peoples’ lives. To deceive the public about the dangers of placing the number one non-radioactive poison (mercury) only three inches from peoples’ brains, in an amalgam compound that leaks vapors 24 hours a day, is cruel and heartless and it shames the very foundation of medicine and dental science. The LSRO would like us to believe that they have been providing independent expert scientific opinions and evaluations for the health, biosciences and food industries, as well as the federal government. The FDA and the American Dental Association would like us to believe they are ever active in their efforts to protect people from hurt and harm. The LSRO examined the peer-reviewed, primary scientific and medical literature published between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2003 relating to dental amalgam and human health and found nothing. But a truly unbiased review of the scientific literature on mercury toxicity and dental amalgams reveals a horror story that no psycho or sociopath that ever walked the earth could ever compete with. What is easily seen with the naked eye implicates all of the above organizations in a web of deceit criminal in intent and scope.

Can we expect dentists in the FDA, LSRO or any of these organizations to admit, after scores of years of denial, that mercury released from dental amalgams could cause severe medical problems? It seems that we can not. In this case we should let the chemists decide issues of toxicity not dentists who are mistakenly hiding behind easily manipulated epidemiology studies. When it comes to mercury and its dangers to human health we need to rely on the appropriate fields of chemistry, biochemistry, and toxicology.

The results of this study are "the polar opposite of the direction of science," said Dr. David Kennedy, former president of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology. Dr. Kennedy, speaking about his own dental profession said, “They have let their association do what should not have been done. They did not protect the public and their seventy billion dollars of liability will be lost in a blink. It is sad but true that the once proud profession of healers has degenerated to lobbyists and liars.” Dr. Kennedy does not expect anyone to give dentists sympathy when the truth comes to light and they are sued for more money then they are worth. There are no excuses for their use of a “time released poison” like mercury, which represents legalized toxic waste dumps deliberately put in peoples’ mouths, literally multiple “time-bombs in our brains.”

http://www.cent4dent.com/html/mercury_issues/amalgam_ariticle.htm

Amalgam (Mercury Fillings): The Great Dangers
Scientifically Proven Facts
About Dental Amalgam (Mercury Fillings)

(Numbers in brackets refer to references at the bottom of this article)

Dental Amalgam contains about 50% Mercury.
Mercury has been scientifically demonstrated to be more toxic than Lead, Cadmium or even Arsenic.
Mercury leaves dental amalgam continuously throughout the lifetime of the filling.
Mercury vapour is the main way that mercury comes out of amalgam. (31)
Mercury vapour is absorbed at a rate of 80% through the lungs into the arterial blood (31, 55)
Mercury kills cells.
There is NO harmless level of Mercury Vapour Exposure (63)
Mercury from mercury fillings binds to sulphydryl groups. These exist in almost every enzymatic process in the body. Mercury from amalgam has the potential to disturb all metabolic processes (25, 33, 60)
Mercury from amalgam is transported freely via the blood (19, 34, 35).
Mercury vapour is absorbed directly into the brain (34, 55a)
Mercury from amalgam will result in a slow build up of mercury in body tissues (20, 26, 34)
Mercury crosses the blood brain barrier (34, 55a)
Mercury is implicated in Alzheimer's Disease (67, 68)
Mercury from amalgam is stored in the foetus and infant before the mother (20, 61) (Could this be part of the reason for children getting cancer?).
Mercury from amalgam is stored in the breast milk and the foetus up to 8 times more than the mother's tissues (18, 19)
Mercury crosses the placenta (18, 31)
Mercury crosses into breast milk (18, 31, 61)
Mercury will severely reduce reproductive function (2, 3, 4, 20, 22, 24, 31, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 49)
Mercury rapidly depletes the immune system (27, 34, 35, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 60)
Mercury will induce a number of Auto Immune Diseases (27, 34, 35, 42,43, 44, 60)
Mercury will cause an increase in number and severity of all allergies (1, 34, 60)
Mercury from amalgam is stored principally in the kidneys, liver and brain (1, 20, 31)
Mercury from amalgam causes kidney damage (shown in animal experiments) (59)
Mercury from amalgam causes a 50% reduction in Kidney filtration, as shown in a study of sheep after amalgam placement (59)
After chewing, Mercury vapour levels will remain raised for at least another 90 minutes (1, 15, 16, 18, 47)
Mercury from amalgam will migrate through the tooth (25, 27, 30)
This rate of migration is increased if a gold crown is placed over a tooth filled with amalgam (27, 30)
Teeth are living tissues and are a part of our bodies.
Teeth have a massive communication via blood, lymph and nerves with the rest of the body (34)
Mercury from amalgam is absorbed into the body at a rate of 3 to 17 mcg / day (WHO 1991 Criteria 118)
Mercury is transported along nerve fibres (33,34, 50)
Mercury form amalgam may be stored in every cell in the body. Each area affected will produce its own set of symptoms ( See "The Real Causes of Pain & Disease "
Mercury binds to haemoglobin in the red blood cell thus reducing oxygen carrying capacity (1, 16, 17, 21, 26,35)
Mercury damages blood vessels, thereby reducing blood supply to the tissues (34)
Amalgam fillings produce electrical currents which are no doubt injurious to health. These currents are measurable in Micro Amps. The Central Nervous System and Brain operate in the range of Nano-Amps, which are 1,000 times less than a Micro Amp (28)
Dissimilar metals in the mouth, such as gold and amalgam, produce higher electrical currents (19, 30)
Brain levels of mercury are in a direct linear proportion to the number of surfaces of amalgam fillings in the mouth (1,19, 25)
Mercury will cause single strand breaks in DNA (41,42)
Mercury levels in the blood can NOT be assessed by blood or urine levels (26)
Dental personnel are severely affected by exposure to mercury (3,13, 49)

References for this article
http://www.relfe.com/mercury.html

Dr. Kennedy Responds:

According to the occupational health and safety textbooks on dental personnel mercury poisoning is a common finding.

In addition, a number of investigators have linked occupational mercury exposure to infertility and birth defects in dental personnel. One dentist as you may recall sued her dental school when she gave birth to an infant with acrodynia (mercury poisoning in children). Apparently, no professor had mentioned during her 4 years of training that her infant could be poisoned in the womb if mercury vapor is inhaled.
Kidney function in dental workers is also impaired.

I could go on at length. This entire lecture along with appropriate references is available if you would like. Ask for Toxics in Dentistry.
davidkennedy-dds@home.com
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THERE IS NO CONTROVERSY THAT MERCURY FROM AMALGAM CONSTITUTES THE LARGEST SOURCE OF MERCURY EXPOSURE IN THE HUMAN POPULATION.
World Health Organization Figures
Average Human Daily Dose of Mercury

Dental amalgam: 3.0-17.0 g/day (hg vapor)

Fish and Seafood: 2.3 g/day (methylmercury
Other food: 0.3 g/day (inorganic hg)
Air & Water: negligible traces
(World Health Organization, Environmental Health Criteria 118: Inorganic Mercury, Geneva, 1991.)