Consumers for Dental Choice has engineered a tectonic shift in dentistry — modern dentists no longer place mercury-based fillings (dental amalgam) — and aware consumers shun them. Unlike a decade ago, neither the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nor the World Health Organization (WHO) defends amalgam — and the major dental products companies stopped making amalgam.
Consumers for Dental Choice and I are in our 15th year of partnership. I have watched my friend Charlie Brown build a powerhouse national and international force, changing dentistry 180 degrees from mercury-based to mercury-free.
But the government bureaucracies (federal and state) and the insurance behemoths have not changed. Amalgam continues for the powerless — our servicewomen and servicemen, the institutionalized, low-income families, and Native Americans.
To end this morally unacceptable system of choice for the rich and mercury for the poor, once again, I put my money where my mouth is. Until midnight on August 23, 2025, I will match your gift to Consumers for Dental Choice — dollar for dollar. I’m in this cause full bore — and ask you to join me.
Those Gray-Colored Dental Fillings Are 50% Mercury
In an audacious move of brazen deception, the American Dental Association (ADA) — an amalgam patentholder — promoted dental amalgam as “silver fillings” and doubled down on the cover-up by adopting a rule of conduct forbidding dentists from discussing the (obvious) toxicity of mercury.
• The truth behind silver fillings — Well, I’m here to tell you that “silver” filling is actually a mercury filling. Mercury is not only toxic, but the most vaporous of heavy metals. So, that means mercury can reach the brain, the kidneys, the placenta, and the breast milk.
• The status quo is enforced — The ADA’s callous and irresponsible promotion of mercury-based dentistry — when the alternatives are technically better now and much more tooth friendly — continues to have severe health, workplace, and environmental consequences.
• Vote with your wallet — Modern dentists never use dental amalgam. If your dentist still places amalgam in any dental patient, it’s time to take your business elsewhere.
Consumers for Dental Choice Brought a Revolution to American Dentistry
When Charlie and I started working together, the federal government and the states sat firmly on dentistry matters, in the pocket of the ADA — similarly, international agencies are in the pocket of the pro-mercury Fédération Dentaire Internationale (FDI) World Dental Federation.
• Major victories have been won — With tenacity, Charlie built a worldwide nonprofit powerhouse — and with strategic brilliance, found the path to dismantle the pro-amalgam machine. Amalgam is now banned across Europe, and in several African and Asian nations.
Both the FDA and the WHO switched from amalgam advocates to amalgam opponents. Readers, convincing either the FDA or WHO to switch from support to opposition of a product is extremely rare; changing both of these impenetrable colossi is, well, unprecedented in my experience.
• Countless lives were saved from mercury — Millions and millions of American consumers — and billions worldwide — were spared from the health risk of mercury-based fillings. Three decades ago, the late mercury-free dental pioneer Dr. Hal Huggins asked Charlie to help a billion people — it now appears he has done so.
• There are still battles to be fought — But as I explain below, we do not have mercury-free dentistry for all. We need to keep the momentum going to banish use of this primitive, pre-Civil War pollutant from our planet.
So, for the 15th consecutive year, I am stepping up to match every dollar donated to Consumers for Dental Choice from now until midnight your time on August 23, 2025 (up to $150,000 total). Let’s give Consumers for Dental Choice the resources it needs and merits. You may click this button below to donate online:
Or you may mail a check to:
Consumers for Dental Choice
727 15th St. NW, Suite 701
Washington, DC 20005
Consumers for Dental Choice Stands Up for Powerless Dental Consumers
Testifying before Congress a few years ago, the witness for esteemed National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said American dentistry is “choice for the rich and mercury for the poor.” Consumers for Dental Choice was created with the vision that if consumers have a choice — an informed choice — they’ll reject the mercury filling in favor of the nontoxic one.
• The choice still isn’t given to all — Many consumers are powerless to choose. Soldiers and sailors, institutionalized individuals, people stuck in government programs like the Indian Health Service (IHS), and people saddled with cut-rate insurance plans that favor mercury.
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Here’s some highlights from the agenda of Consumers for Dental Choice to end amalgam for all:
Consumers for Dental Choice’s Initiative to Make Federal Government Programs Mercury-Free
Despite the FDA safety communication warning against amalgam use in children and other high-risk populations, the single biggest purchaser of amalgam in the U.S. is our own government. Its dental programs continue to implant dental mercury into American Indians, into our soldiers and sailors, into institutionalized persons, and into families on Medicaid.
• Authorities finally gathered and listened — After years of pounding on doors, Consumers for Dental Choice finally got the government to the table for an entire day last year in Washington, DC to talk about ending amalgam.
Assembled were government officials representing the FDA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the State Department, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the IHS who met with a broad range of environmental, medical, dental, science, and consumer leaders.
• New programs have been created — Now, we see results. Consumers for Dental Choice convinced the IHS to publish its “Plan to Phase Down the Use of Dental Amalgam among American Indians/Alaska Natives 2010 – 2030 (or until dental amalgam is phased out in the U.S.).”
It includes such effective measures as “Provide guidance to IHS, tribal, and urban dental programs to cease the use of dental amalgam on deciduous (primary) teeth,” “Conduct a national webinar for IHS dental providers regarding the 2020 FDA Safety Communication and this phase-down plan,” and “Develop policies that reduce the amount of dental amalgam purchased by IHS service units.”
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Consumers for Dental Choice’s Initiative to Make State Government Programs Mercury-Free
To effect change in our federal constitutional system, it takes initiatives both in Washington and in state capitals. So, Consumers for Dental Choice has launched three state projects to serve as models for the rest of the country:
• Florida — Assembling four national organizations, Consumers for Dental Choice filed a petition to Tallahassee to end amalgam use in Florida Medicaid. They had a Zoom meeting with my friend, renowned Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. More than a dozen Florida dentists signed a letter asking for action.
• Rhode Island — Consumers for Dental Choice is building a grassroots movement in the Ocean State, finding real interest among environmental groups, racial justice advocates, and dental professionals.
• California — Consumers for Dental Choice is working with the Alameda County (Oakland) Consumer Affairs Commission to empower consumer choice.
Cleaning Up the Dental Industry
It’s not enough to work with government authorities in phasing out dental amalgam. It’s important to target and transform the amalgam market, too. In that regard, Consumers for Dental Choice has scored major victories:
• Cutting off amalgam supply — Consumers for Dental Choice already pushed major U.S. dental products makers Dentsply and Envista (Kerr) out of the amalgam business. Today, the major American companies make only mercury-free fillings.
• Cutting off amalgam demand — As Consumers for Dental Choice wins bans and restrictions on amalgam, the demand for this mercury product continues to drop. Countries banning amalgam sweep across Asia, notably the Philippines and Indonesia. In Africa, Tanzania and Gabon have also banned amalgam, as well as in the Caribbean (St. Kitts and Nevis).
• Cutting off the amalgam trade — The recent European Union (EU) law not only bans amalgam use, but also bans amalgam imports and exports, cutting off dental mercury peddlers — both in the EU and abroad — from many markets.
Winning Amalgam Bans
When Charlie went to Brussels in 2011 to launch the campaign that led to victory, things were bad — only two countries in the EU were interested in mercury-free dentistry.
• Europe was the largest user of amalgam in the world — Governmental officials read from talking points supplied by the pro-mercury Council of European Dentists (CED). Charlie assembled a team from the 27 member nations. His team returned repeatedly to the federal capital, Brussels, went to the national capitals, and organized a response to a European Commission poll demonstrating that 88% of Europeans want mercury-free dentistry.
• Hard work and perseverance pay off — To run the campaign in Europe, Charlie appointed Florian Schulze, leader of an exciting new non-governmental organization (NGO) in Berlin, the European Network for Environmental Medicine. Florian and his NGO engineered the breakthrough our cause needed — a law in 2017 banning amalgam for children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.
The goal, then, upshifted to mercury-free dentistry for all — a path requiring a Biblical seven more years of grueling challenges. The result in 2024 — a vote to ban amalgam was 27 nations for, zero nations against. What started with two countries in support in 2011 morphed into unanimity in 2024. The European Parliament supported the ban 98% to 2% — imagine such a near-unanimity from a legislative body!
• Governments around the world are following — In addition to the growing number of countries banning all amalgam, many countries — from Vietnam to Mauritius to Tunisia — have banned amalgam use for high-risk populations like children.
Now, another major country, China, has joined them. China issued a new regulation in 2024 that in translation says, “Dental amalgam is prohibited for use in dental treatment of deciduous teeth, patients under 15 years of age, and pregnant and lactating women, unless the dentist deems it necessary based on the needs of the patient.”
Showdown in November
The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, the international coalition Charlie chairs, has convinced the governments to shift the focus of the Minamata Convention on Mercury from “phase down amalgam” to “phase out amalgam.”
• Preparing for the faceoff — In 2022, the Parties adopted the Children’s Amendment addressing an end date for amalgam for children and for pregnant and breastfeeding women. In 2023 the Parties adopted a phase out of dental amalgam as a worldwide goal.
In November 2025, the Minamata Convention on Mercury reconvenes — at the top of the agenda is whether to shift treaty language from phase out amalgam as a goal to phase out of amalgam as a legal mandate. Both the Africa continent, by unanimity, and the European Union have already called for support of this amendment — and support is growing across the globe.
• The fight to ban amalgam comes to a head — Charlie will lead a civil society delegation from 13 nations at the upcoming conference of the parties, coming 3 to 7 November in Geneva. The voice of mercury-free dentistry will be well-represented.
Your Help Makes a Big Difference
Consumers for Dental Choice is an amazing nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to advocating mercury-free dentistry. Its talented team of consumer advocates, environmentalists, and health professionals work tirelessly — and effectively — to continue the fight against dental mercury around the world.
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Via https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/08/17/end-mercury-dental-fillings-campaign.aspx
