When a patient chooses to have their mercury amalgam fillings removed, protecting them – and our team – from mercury exposure is paramount. But safety doesn’t stop there.

Practicing mercury-free, mercury-safe dentistry is vital for our planet’s health, as well.

Because so many dentists around the world continue to fill teeth with amalgam, the industry remains one of the biggest sources of environmental mercury pollution, contributing as much as  340 tons every year. It’s been estimated that here in the US, up to half of all mercury in wastewater comes from dental amalgam. Plenty winds up in our air and soil, as well.

How does it get there? Take a look:

Unfortunately, we can’t necessarily count on regulators like the EPA to put a stop to this kind of pollution, and history has proven time and again we also can’t depend on big corporations or powerful organizations like the ADA to do what’s right.

Sure, we have the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which the US signed in 2013, pledging to protect humans and the environment from mercury. Yet while one country after another has begun to phase out amalgam, the US has done nothing.

So when it comes to creating a mercury-free future, we need more than ever to depend on each other.

Here in Washington state, where fishing plays such a big role traditionally and economically, we know first-hand the health challenges that come from polluted water especially. As holistic health advocates, we know the nutritional challenges of a change in diet when you avoid fish for safety reasons. We also understand the financial burdens that come when pollution puts the brakes on fishing – whether commercial or personal, fishing to feed your family because it’s just what your ancestors have always done for generations, if not centuries.

So be mercury-safe, whether you’re fishing in our state’s beautiful waterways or carefully choosing fish at your local market, and be sure you have a mercury-free dentist who is also mercury-SAFE. For the environment, that means, above all, having well-maintained amalgam separators installed and disposing of any amalgam-contaminated materials as the toxic waste it is.

This week, biological dentists, holistic healthcare providers, activists, and people like you are observing Mercury Awareness Week, a joint campaign by Dr. Mercola and Consumers for Dental Choice, two leaders in the fight for mercury-free dentistry.  There’s still so much work to do, but this week, we salute the people who do the research, who provide the education and training, and who do the necessary lobbying and other outreach, as well as, of course, mercury-free, mercury-safe dentists everywhere.

Thanks to such folks, we at Green City Dental can easily share with you the vital information we all need in order to move closer to a mercury-free world for us all. Check out their websites, sign up for their newsletters, and share what you learn. The more we know, the better we live, and the more we can give back.

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