[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.

[Netizen]

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.

I think they are trying to cover their butts. They don't dare admit the dangers for fear of lawsuits.

When I was looking for a new dentist I did ask about amalgams. Whether they offered it or not. Most of the dentists I asked, don't even offer it anymore. I asked because at the time I was concerned that they were just trying to make money off people by replacing all their amalgams with the white filling.

We seem to have a good dentist now, but we went through several 'bad' ones to get there.