Philadelphia - First City in Nation - to Pass a Law Requiring Informed Consent
Before Dentists Use Mercury Amalgam
PHILADELPHIA, May 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The PennsylvaniaCoalition for
Mercury-Free Dentistry and Consumers for Dental Choice will host a press
conference to promote Blondell Reynolds Brown's "Informed Consent" mercury
dental law, Tuesday, May 13, 12:30 p.m. Mayor's Reception Room 202, City Hall.
There will be a CONSUMER PROTEST, 10:30 a.m.,255 South 17th Street.
President of the Pennsylvania Dental Association falsely claims: "No dentist
'places mercury' in a patient's mouth."
After a four-year battle, Philadelphia City Council passed Brown's bill
mandating that dentists distribute a patient brochure disclosing the dangers
of silver/amalgam fillings, that they are 50% mercury, that dental mercury
exposure poses health and environmental risks, and non-mercury alternatives
exist. Despite aggressive opposition by the PDA, ADA and Philadelphia Dental
Society, the bill passed unanimously, 17-0 on December 13, 2007. A similar
state bill has been introduced by Representative Daylin Leach.
"Unless patients receive truthful information about the DISADVANTAGES of
amalgam, educated decisions about dental care cannot be made, nor can patients
protect themselves from mercury exposure," says, Freya Koss, Director of the
Coalition. Koss, is hopeful that the Department of Health will write a
scientifically factual brochure heeding the World Health Organization's
conclusions that dental amalgam fillings contribute more mercury to a person's
body than all other sources of mercury combined. Donald Robbins, DMD, a
biologic Exton dentist and member of the International Academy of Oral
Medicine and Toxicology encourages warnings for pregnant women, "Studies have
repeatedly demonstrated that mercury in the tissues of the fetus or infant
correlates significantly with the number of dental amalgam fillings in the
mother."
"All populations should be aware of the potential health hazards of amalgam.
The brochure provided for in Bill No 040904 will give all patients pertinent
information to make informed choices," stated Reynolds Brown.
"The consumer protection law written by Blondell Reynolds Brown will help
thousands of Philadelphia families to bring awareness that silver fillings are
mainly mercury and pose a serious health risk. What pregnant woman or parent
would want their unborn baby or child exposed to mercury?" warns Charlie
Brown, National Counsel to Consumers for Dental Choice.
For more information about the bill and the press conference, contact Freya
Koss, (610) 649-2606, or Charlie Brown, (202) 544-6333,
charlie@toxicteeth.org.
SOURCE Consumers for Dental Choice
Freya Koss, +1-610-649-2606, or Charlie Brown, +1-202-544-6333,
charlie@toxicteeth.org, both of Consumers for Dental Choice
