Dental amalgam controversy emissions. The WHO also points out that amalgam separators, installed in the waste water lines of many dental offices, dramatically decrease the release of mercury into the public sewer system. In the United States, most dental practices are prohibited from disposing amalgam waste down the drain. Critics also point to cremation of dental fillings as an additional source of air pollution, contributing about 1% of total global emissions. It is the position of the FDI World Dental Federation as well as numerous dental associations and dental public health agencies worldwide that amalgam restorations are safe and effective. Numerous other organizations
Dental amalgam controversy condoned the use of dental amalgam. In 1855, Dr. J. Foster Flagg, a professor of dental pathology in Philadelphia, experimented with new mixtures of amalgam. In 1861, he presented his findings to the Pennsylvania Association of Dental Surgeons and, in 1881, he published his book, Plastic and Plastic Fillings (Figure 4). (Amalgam fillings were often called "plastic fillings" at the time.) The inevitable result of this affair was that silver amalgam was proven to be, "an excellent filling material," and expanded dentistry's, "ability to save teeth." Around the same time, John and Charles Tomes in England conducted research on the