Unfortunately the reason for this large scale deceit is nothing less then financial and political motives on behalf of the FDA. This is a position they should have taken decades ago if they were practicing honesty in this field of medicine. Mercury is a heavily toxic metal and although the FDA chose to ignore this fact for many years, it is has never been false. Based on this long line of deceit over the years, the Consumers for Dental Choice teamed up with Moms Against Mercury to sue the FDA for what they have done to millions of children throughout the years.

The lawsuit was concluded one week ago. The FDA has already changed the text on their website regarding their support of Mercury fillings to a warning of its real dangers. Aside from this act they have agreed to reclassify Mercury within one year but there are no doubts this will be dragged out as long as possible. Although the new statement on the FDA’s website still uses words like “may” to make consumers think they are still not sure if their own statement is true, it is a step in the right direction.

Keep in mind that although the Moms Against Mercury won the lawsuit this does not mean that Mercury will be immediately replaced with alternative methods. It will take years to actually eliminate the use of Mercury and with this being said it is important that you as a parent understand your options. Simply speak with your dentist and you will find that there are alternatives to Mercury dental fillings and you can take advantage of them when requested. I did.

Composite fillings are the most common. They were originally marketed for people who were embarrassed by their silver fillings and looking for something more attractive; white fillings. Of course more importantly these fillings do not contain mercury and should be considered as the alternative for your children in order to avoid any neurological damage in the future. Although composite fillings are more expensive it is an investment that is more than worth it.

Millions of Americans have not even been aware there are other options at their disposal and because of this the Mercury filling industry continued to grow bigger and bigger. Now with this lawsuit in the media and parents beginning to learn the severe damages that can be done to their children, the money making industry is finally beginning to fade.

The FDA has made the statement that amalgam dental fillings contain high levels of mercury, which may have toxic effects on the nervous systems of young children and even developing fetuses. In addition to this statement the FDA has added an additional warning for pregnant women and anyone who currently has high levels of mercury within their systems due to a pre-existing condition. This does not mean you should avoid taking care of your teeth and dental work, it only means you should discuss your options with your dentist before accepting an amalgam dental filling.

It will take approximately 1 year for the new rules, regulations and warnings to be properly posted within the dental industry but this turn around time is quite quick for this type of newly developing case. It can be hard to believe that a small dental filling can affect someone in such a serious way but if you think that millions of pregnant women and children receive dental fillings every day, thousands of these people are bound to be negatively affected. The amalgam fillings are made from liquid mercury, tin, copper, zinc and other metals. It was believed when this filling was first created that the mercury was trapped within the amalgam when it was developed; this is not true.

For those people with an amalgam filling, when you chew you are releasing mercury vapor, which is then absorbed by the body. Although this is a small amount of mercury released into your system it does not take long to build up with more fillings and the more we chew. It is important to understand this FDA warning is not trying to prevent you from seeing your dentist and properly taking care of your cavities. Instead, it is meant to educate you on what these fillings can do to your health and the health of your unborn child. There are other options; amalgam fillings are not the only way to treat cavities today.

I have been talking about the dangers of these toxic mercury fillings for quite some time now. If you currently have an amalgam filling I strongly encourageyou to visit your dentist today and learn about your alternative options and have these fillings removed and replaced immediately, as I did. You also have the option of visiting a holistic dentist to get these fillings replaced. You do not have to be a pregnant woman or a small child to be concerned about the risks associated with mercury in the fillings because only time will tell how many other people are being affected through this form of dental work. Take this opportunity to remove these dangerous fillings and make sure nothing toxic is being put into your mouth through dental treatment.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the methods some pregnant women use to turn their soon-to-be born babies into baby Einstein’s.  Some of them follow the research that says playing classical music from the likes of Mozart, Bach and Beethoven stimulates a baby’s brain development.  Others say just talking to your pre-born is the secret to baby braniacs. 

Of course, these methods have never been proven fail-safe methods; it’s very debatable as to their effectiveness from one case to another.  What isn’t debatable, though, is the adverse effect mercury has on a pre-born baby’s development.  Study after study links the level of mercury in a pregnant women’s blood stream to children’s learning disabilities and impaired brain development.  In light of this, many pregnant women swear off fish.  Because various fish are known to contain large to trace amounts of mercury, many pregnant women go the full nine months without eating a single thing culled from the ocean.  But new evidence suggests this might not be such a good idea, particularly when it comes to a child’s brain development.

Researchers came to this conclusion after taking blood samples from 350 pregnant women during their second trimester, asking them what their diets were like in those three months.  By the time their child turned 3 years of age, the formerly pregnant women had their kids take various tests for the researchers, tests that measured their speaking abilities and motor skills.  What they found was that the children with the best scores had mothers who ate fish regularly during their second trimester (more than twice a week). But findings like this fly in the face of U.S. health officials’ caution to pregnant mothers – avoid eating more than two servings of fish a week (i.e. more than 12 ounces).  The findings are published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

So, what’s a pregnant mother to do?  Well, one thing researchers suggest pregnant women not do is take health officials’ caution lightly; fish like mackerel, shark, red snapper and orange roughy have high amounts of mercury that pose risks to a baby’s overall development.  Just as the researchers’ findings indicated the more fish pregnant women ate the better their children performed on tests, it also showed that the higher mercury levels were, the worse their children performed on tests.  While not all of the women with high mercury levels ate fish, a quarter of those with high mercury levels did.

Now, this probably sounds like I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth – eat more fish and you get smarter children; eat more fish and you run the risk of infecting your pre-born kids with mercury poisoning.  Which is it?  The key is to find fish that have low levels of mercury but high levels of omega-3 fatty acids – the fats believed responsible for healthy brain development.

While fish with high levels of mercury tend to also have high levels of omega-3s, there are fish that provide the best of both worlds.  One of them is salmon.  Salmon contains a .01 parts per million mercury level (ppm) and nearly two grams of omega-3s in a three ounce piece.  A close second is herring, containing .04 parts per million of mercury and roughly two grams of omega-3s for every three ounce piece.  Two other good bets are flounder or sole (.05 ppm, .48g omega-3s per three ounce piece) and pollack (.06 ppm, .45g omega-3s per three ounce piece). 

So, if you want a healthy heart and a bright child, swearing off fish entirely isn’t the answer.  Eating the safe kind of fish, however – two to three times a week – is.