I found several links saying Austria has banned mercury amalgam dental fillings since the year 2000.
There's a ton of anti-amalgam info on: http://www.amalgam.org/ This reminds me of the debate on tobacco smoke causing lung cancer. The people selling it said it was safe, and outsiders said it was not. On the other hand, chlorine is used to keep tap water safe, even though it is toxic. But chlorine and mercury are not the same, mercury is harder for the body to remove/filter than chlorine. Amalgam fillings are 50% mercury. Drinking an ounce of chlorine would cause liver/kidney damage, and would take a week to get out of your system. Drinking a quarter gram of mercury would cause nervous system damage, and it would take over a year to get out of your system. Asbestos used to be used in dentistry too, to treat bleeding gums. I'm not sure about alternatives to mercury as a preservative in vaccines. But composite (plastic) fillings are a practical alternative to mercury fillings. A mercury filling (in Canada) is $85, composite is $115, porcelain is $700, gold is $900. The cost difference between mercury and composite is not very great. Also composite fillings require less healthy tooth to be removed; amalgam isn't strong when its very thin. Even if mercury is tolerable in tiny doses, I can't see the harm in falsely claiming I am allergic to mercury, lead, asbestos, and arsenic. robert -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/lfs-chat FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/faq/ Unsubscribe: See the above information page
