Dental amalgam controversy from the WHO concluded that dental amalgam contributes significantly to mercury body burden in humans with amalgam fillings and that dental amalgam is the most common form of exposure to elemental mercury in the general population, constituting a potentially significant source of exposure to elemental mercury. Estimates of daily intake from amalgam restorations range from 1 to 12.5 μg/day, with the majority of dental amalgam holders being exposed to less than 5 μg mercury/day. They also note that this will continue to decline as the number of amalgam restorations is declining. As public pressure demands more research on amalgam safety,
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