Teeth and Dentistry

Subterms

    Latest story

    138 Shares104 Views

    What Are Dental Amalgam Fillings? What to Know About Mercury Fillings

    by

    The European Union banned mercury amalgam fillings to protect the environment. Should you worry about protecting your health, too?When the European Union adopted a ban on dental amalgam fillings earlier this year, its aim was to eliminate one of the last remaining intentional uses of mercury in Europe. The regulation is part of the Zero Pollution Action Plan, an initiative that includes removing microplastics, chemical pesticides and even noise pollution from the environment.The ban, which will go into effect at the beginning of next year, can help “avoid the release of approximately 10 tons of mercury into the environment by 2030,” Tilly Metz, a member of the European Parliament who worked on the legislation, said in an email.The E.U. is going a big step further than required by the United Nations’ Minamata Convention, a global treaty adopted by more than 140 countries including the United States, that requires countries to “phase down” the use of dental amalgam. The treaty is named after the Minamata Bay in Japan where, in the mid-20th century, industrial pollution containing mercury contaminated seafood and sickened thousands of people, some fatally.While the new E.U. ban is not focused on the health of the individuals receiving the fillings, millions of people around the world have mercury fillings in their mouths; it’s natural to wonder about what the regulations might mean for your health.What are mercury fillings?Dental amalgam fillings, commonly known as silver fillings, have been used in dentistry since the 19th century. They are approximately half mercury and a half blend of silver, zinc, tin, copper or other metals.More than 100 million Americans have mercury fillings, but they’re being used less and less often. Most new dental fillings in the United States are made of resins and composites that do not contain any mercury.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

    More stories

    • 88 Shares149 Views

      in Elections

      Nara Smith’s Homemade Sunscreen Gives Experts Pause

      by

      Nara and Lucky Blue Smith make sunscreen and toothpaste from scratch. Experts have thoughts.Last month, the model and influencer Nara Smith said she had recently run out of sunscreen. Instead of buying more, she asked her husband, Lucky Blue Smith, to make some from scratch.Mr. Smith’s process, which Ms. Smith posted to TikTok last month, looked more like a cooking video than anything else. Wearing an unbuttoned shirt and holding a toothpick between his lips, he combined ingredients including coconut oil, shea butter, jojoba oil and zinc oxide powder in a clear bowl.In a certain pocket of social media, Ms. Smith has become known for such do-it-yourself content. It began with her posting recipes to satisfy food cravings, but grew to include videos of her husband making personal care products such as sunscreen, toothpaste and moisturizer from scratch.Some commenters admire the couple’s D.I.Y. cosmetics, while others wonder whether their content is satire. But cosmetic chemists, dentists and dermatologists agree that making beauty products from scratch isn’t always a good idea. Homemade moisturizer presents few risks, but homemade sunscreen is far less likely to offer protection, and D.I.Y. toothpaste may be bad for tooth enamel, experts said.Ms. Smith, who did not respond to requests for comment, has at times nodded to the limitations of her experience. In the toothpaste video, for example, she acknowledged that she is not a professional dentist. But at other times, as in her sunscreen TikTok, she assured viewers that her husband “is a baker, so he makes sure that everything is very precise.”Cosmetic chemistry is not the same as baking, said Marisa Plescia, the vice president-elect of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists. Experts make products according to precise formulas; attempting that process at home when you’re not a chemist can lead to D.I.Y. products that are ineffective, don’t last long or react poorly with your skin, she said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More