Amalgam foes not giving up; menopause adds to oral health risks

Dear DrBicuspid Member,

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may have thought its July 28 ruling on dental amalgam would lay the issue to rest once and for all, but the debate is far from over.

Amalgam opponents plan to formally petition the FDA this week to reconsider its new guidelines, and they continue to call into question the role FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg played in the agency's apparent change of heart over the safety of amalgam. Read more.

In clinical news, a new study shows that postmenopausal women are more susceptible to periodontal disease and alveolar bone loss than at any other times in their lives, and illuminates the physiological changes that can lead to the increased vulnerability.

And on the legislative front, U.S. dentists and hygienists could benefit from millions of dollars disbursed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, according to a report from the California HealthCare Foundation.