[Netizen]

Unfortunately, I bet they wouldn't state that amalgam is unsafe, at least publicly. They would be bashed by the ADA and other dentists if they did.

I think it was our new dentist that did say the amalgams weren't safe. I was going to raise questions about the years of lies but thought better of it.

My complaint about all this is that yes we were lied to about this, and, when they started using the white filling, our dental insurance didn't cover the white fillings, calling them 'cosmetic', and saying they didn't last as long as the amalgam. I don't know if dental insurance now covers the white filling or not since we no longer have dental insurance.

[hellbender]

I think your new dentist is unusually brave and honest to take that stand. He probably knows that handling amalgam is dangerous to dentists. I read that packages of amalgam carry warnings, and that the mfrs. of amalgam counsel against using it on pregnant women. Yet the Am. Dental Assoc. persists in saying this stuff is totally safe! They also say they support research to find alternatives to amalgam. Now why would anyone try to replace this wonderful "safe" product? What a bunch of phonies.

This thread prompted me to do some googling, and I found that dental amalgam (not eating fish, or anything else) is the largest source of exposure to mercury in the general population. So why are we warned to limit consumption of fish, but not worry about amalgam? Something is "fishy" about that prioritization.