Dental experts say recent "outrageous claims" about the danger of amalgam (silver) tooth fillings are without scientific basis and that more than 99 percent of the population have no allergic responses to the material.
Philadelphia County Dental Society president Dr. Jerold Miller says that while a "miniscule group may be allergic to some of the elements in silver fillings," no filling material has been proven superior to amalgam in safety, durability and cost-effectiveness.
"No scientific cause and effect has been established between removal of amalgams and recovery from multiple sclerosis or arthritis or Alzheimer's disease," Miller says. "The public should not be confused or intimidated into removing silver fillings based on these allegations."
The use of amalgam, which contains metals such as silver, copper and tin as well as some small amounts of mercury to chemically bind the components, has been declared completely safe and economically feasible by the National Institutes of Health, the FDI World Dental Federation, the World Health Organization, Consumer Reports and the American Dental Association's Council on Scientific Affairs.
Claims by certain advocacy groups are "old wives' tales that have been disproved time and again over the last 150 years, during which this filling has been used continuously, safely and effectively," Miller says.
