Dental amalgam controversy (unlike composites), and is often about 20-30% less expensive. "Consumer Reports" has suggested that many who claim dental amalgam is not safe are "prospecting for disease" and using pseudoscience to scare patients into more lucrative treatment options. Those opposed to amalgam use suggest that modern composites are improving in strength. In addition to their claims of possible health and ethical issues, opponents of dental amalgam fillings claim amalgam fillings contribute to mercury contamination of the environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that health care facilities, including dental offices, account for as much as 5% of total waste water mercury
Dental amalgam controversy expansion and contraction of the various amalgam products. During the American Civil War, the debate on the merits of amalgam continued. In dental meetings, with now decades of use and dental research came the recognition of the importance of good technique and proper mixture on long-term success. It was argued that, "the fault was not in the material but in the manipulation...Some men's amalgam is good universally, and some men's gold is bad universally; the difference lies in the preparation of the tooth and in the plug (filling)." More controversy came in 1872, when an amalgam filling was reported as