<a href=http://www.toxicteeth.net
target=new>http://www.toxicteeth.net</a><br><br>SACRAMENTO, CA
-- Calling the state Dental Board "a decaying and
rotting agency," several consumer, environmental, and
dental organizations have called for the State
Legislature to shut it down.<br><br>"When teeth decay and
rot, they must be pulled out. Now itís time to extract
the Dental Board because all itís been doing is
protecting organized dentistry, not consumers," said Anita
Vazquez Tibau of Consumers for Dental Choice, a consumer
group who petitioned the Board two years ago to issue
an accurate "Fact Sheet" about the risks of Mercury
amalgam fillings. "It's time every consumer in California
is told the 'M' word -- that their amalgam fillings
are half Mercury."<br><br>Consumer groups are
particularly incensed because of continuing deception over the
use of the word "silver" to describe amalgam
fillings. Actually, amalgamís major component is Mercury,
an extremely dangerous material forbidden in other
health care uses and listed under Proposition 65 as a
reproductive toxin. A separate state law, passed in 1992 and
authored by then-State Senator Diane Watson, required the
Dental Board to write a Fact Sheet listing the "risks"
of dental materials. The Board has never written an
acceptable Fact Sheet.<br><br>The Legislature is taking up
emergency legislation by Senator Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont)
that would de-fund the Dental Board on July 1 and
transfer its duties to the state Department of Consumer
Affairs. Senator Figueroa acted after the Board cancelled
a June 14 public meeting called to vote on adopting
the warning language mandated by the Watson law,
claiming it could not muster a quorum. The Board
president, Dr. Kit Neacy of Covina, issued that decision on
June 12 -- the day several consumer groups sued the
American and California Dental Associations (ADA and CDA)
for deceptive practices involving Mercury.<br><br>"No
ordinary California citizen could continue to violate a
state law for nine years, because itís three strikes
and youíre out," said Charles G. Brown, the former
West Virginia state Attorney General who is the lead
attorney in the fight against Mercury fillings. "For the
Dental Board, nine strikes is all they should get, and
now theyíre out."<br><br>Dr. Lois Hill Hale read a
statement at the press conference from Congresswoman Diane
Watson (D-L.A.). Earlier this month, Watson wrote the
Dental Board saying urgent action was needed to advise
consumers about the risks of Mercury amalgam, particularly
because most consumers are not even told that "silver
fillings" are really "Mercury fillings."<br><br>Dr. Andy
Landerman, a Santa Rosa dentist representing the American
Academy of Biological Dentistry, noted that many dental
groups oppose Mercury in the mouth. "Each amalgam
filling includes a colossal amount of Mercury by medical
standards [750 mg]. No health group in America supports
putting grams and grams of Mercury into the human body,
except the ADA. And the ADA won't tell consumers about
the yearly fees it receives from amalgam
manufacturers while it tells people Mercury is
safe."<br><br>Landerman called for an immediate stop to giving Mercury
fillings to women and children. Other countries have
already acted, he said. "Only the power of the ADA keeps
our government from interceding to help children,
born and not-yet-born."<br><br>Shawn Khorrami, a Los
Angeles lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the Mercury
lawsuit against the ADA and CDA, added, "Consumers had
hoped that the Dental Board would stand up to the
powerful ADA on behalf of California children. Instead,
the Board has joined the ADA in trying to stop
consumers from learning that Mercury vapors from amalgam go
to the brain, a special risk to children and the
unborn, whose brains are still developing."<br><br>Other
organizations supporting the de-funding of the Dental Board
include California Health Care Without Harm and the
Mercury Policy Project.