Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert Mark Bornfeld DDS

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sarah wrote at 2011-11-04 12:58:23
Well, for me, that was the case but only for about a month? I'm not sure but the sensitivity goes away after awhile. The problem with metal fillings is that eventually they wear out. They change and will eventually turn brittle and crack. Metal fillers have to be replaced after about ten years anyway, it's probably was better you replaced them before they cracked or else other problems would occur. Porcelain fillings last longer, you don't really have to replace them unless you get another cavity in them, and are almost invisible.

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sarah wrote at 2011-11-04 13:08:06
Also, make sure you go to a good dentist. I once had a dentist who ended making a mistake that costed me about 1,500 dollars. And, to address the person who said, and I quote: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." That is NEVER the case with teeth. You only get one set ( two if you include your baby teeth) but prevention is better than a cure. Prevention may cause 100-200 dollars but a cure could be, like in my case: 1000-2000 dollars. If you don't trust your dentist, I advise you ask other dentists for their advice as sometimes they can be dodgy and your teeth are too precious.

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smart chic wrote at 2012-05-08 19:51:22
Why Does the FDA Ignore its Own Experts?



In December 2010, in response to the outrage over their 2009 ruling, the FDA asked an advisory panel to examine the latest science on amalgams. The panel recommended that the FDA promptly:



Make sure that all consumers and all parents know that amalgam is mainly mercury

Stop amalgam use for children and pregnant women

Still, the agency hesitated… Then, last year Shuren attended a series of town hall meetings around the US, where he heard so much criticism against the agency's amalgam policy that he eventually started saying the agency would act on the petitions to reconsider its position. As recently as November 30, the FDA confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that it did indeed intend to address amalgam in 2011, stating that:



" … in response to concerns about its [2009] ruling, the FDA convened a panel last December to re-examine the issue and expects to make a new announcement by the end of this year."



But, it didn't… According to Charlie Brown, national counsel for Consumers for Dental Choice, and President of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry:



"At Jeff Shuren's Center for Devices, politics wins. Science loses. Thirteen months ago, FDA's own advisory panel of handpicked scientists told FDA to stop amalgam use for children and pregnant women. But Shuren fails to heed the scientists — even though, since September, he repeatedly announced that he intended to act on amalgam in 2011. Every day that Shuren fails to act, more children are subjected to this mercury product, which — FDA's own rule concedes — can have 'neurotoxic effects' on the 'developing neurological systems' of children and unborn babies."



No One NEEDS Amalgam to Remain Available...



Dental amalgam is far from an essential dental product; it's interchangeable with many other filling materials that do not have the toxic profile amalgam has. Just consider these disturbing facts:



Amalgam is the MOST EXPENSIVE dental material when you count environmental costs and clean-up costs.

Amalgam is the number one cause of mercury exposure for consumers, according to the Canadian government and other sources.

Mercury from dental offices is the largest source of mercury in wastewater. According to an article by Michael Bender (co-founder of the Mercury Policy Project), at least 40 percent of mercury flowing into municipal water treatment plants begins in dentist offices. And those plants are not set up to remove it, so it ends up in your fish.

Americans and Europeans have more mercury in their mouths than exists in all products combined—more than 1,000 tons.

Amalgams of the dead pose a risk to the living. Emissions from the combustion of mercury fillings during cremation are a significant contaminator of air, waterways, soil, wildlife and food. Seven to nine metric tons of mercury per year escapes into the atmosphere during cremations, and it is estimated that, left unchecked, crematoria will be the largest single cause of mercury pollution by 2020.

Modern materials like resin composites and glass ionomers have rendered amalgam completely unnecessary for any clinical situation. In fact, the mercury-free alternatives are so advanced that entire nations, such as the Scandinavian countries, have stopped using amalgam altogether.



Already, about half of U.S. dentists are mercury-free and 77 percent of consumers who are told that amalgam contains mercury choose mercury-free alternatives.  

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