Dental Fillings | Are your fillings safe?

A panel of Food and Drug Adminisration advisors has rejected a federal report that concluded that so-called "silver dental fillings", actually composed of mercury-laden amalgam and used by millions of dental patients, are safe, and said further studies are needed before they can endorse the report.

The panel did not declare the dental fillings 'unsafe', but in a 13-7 vote stated the federal report "did not objectively and clearly present the current state of knowledge about the fillings." In a second 13-7 vote, the panelists said the report's conclusions about safety were not reasonable.

"There are too many things we don't know, too many things that were excluded," said Michael Aschner, a professor of pediatrics and pharmacology at Vanderbilt University and a panel consultant. He cast two "no" votes.

Panelists said that remaining uncertainties about the possible risks of so-called silver fillings demanded further investigation, particularly on the effects of mercury laden fillings on children, pregnant mothers, and unborn fetuses.

The panel also suggested that more study was needed to establish facts on whether silver fillings give off more vapors while being placed in patients' mouths, or being removed.Dr. Ralph Sacco, of Columbia University, said dental patients should not panic and that there was no need to have their amalgam fillings removed.