Who is more likely to get an amalgam dental filling: people with insurance or people without insurance? The answer may surprise you. The people who are paying for dental insurance are actually MORE likely to get amalgam than mercury-free composite, according to a study published in 2011.¹

To find out why this is the case, you don't need to look beyond the slimy bait-and-switch tactics employed by dental insurance companies.

Many people buy dental insurance believing their dental fillings are covered under their policies. But buried in the fine print of those policies are many restrictions that limit the insured's access to mercury-free dentistry. For example:

• Many insurance policies only pay for amalgam in molar teeth; if you want composite, you have to pay out-of-pocket.
• Many insurance policies that do pay for composite fillings in molar teeth only cover them up to the cost of an amalgam, then leave you to pay the difference.
• Many insurance policies claim to cover "silver fillings," but don't tell unsuspecting customers that there is no such thing as a "silver filling" — they are in fact mostly mercury.
• Many insurance policies will not pay for the removal of old amalgams and replacement with composite fillings — even if your dentist believes this is the best treatment.

Many Feel Deceived by Bait-and-Switch Tactics

Many consumers have been left feeling their insurance companies have deceived them. As one consumer reported in a recent survey:

"I just was shocked when I found out the details of my coverage. It felt like a bait-and-switch scheme and deception after I submitted my claims.

There is no doubt they are doing the wrong thing by covering a toxic substance with known serious consequences. Suppose you are in the chair, have problems, you need that filling and you have not planned for that expense, so you just say yes to mercury, because you are in a bind."

Many more feel that their insurance does not adequately cover the modern mercury-free fillings:

"My company-sponsored insurance has not covered mercury-free fillings adequately (or at all in the past) for myself or my children."

"As noted earlier, they only pay up to the cost of an amalgam, unless it's on the front (visible) teeth. I get my insurance through my employer and have no choice in provider (only one option)."

"I must pay the difference between the cost of amalgam and mercury-free fillings."

Take Action — Make Mercury-Free Dentistry a Reality for All

Mercury-Free Dentistry Week, August 21 to 28, is more than a celebration. This week I will match your donations to Consumers for Dental Choice, whether done in U.S dollars, Canadian dollars, pounds or Euros, up to $100,000.

Consumers for Dental Choice is a small, effective organization with the solitary mission of brining mercury-free dentistry to North America and the world.

For 20 years, Consumers for Dental Choice has been working to protect your right to choose mercury-free dentistry. When Consumers for Dental Choice was founded back in 1996, times were grim for consumers and right-thinking dentists.

The latter were tyrannized about the mercury issue; only 3 percent would admit to being mercury-free.

A Mercury Triangle — the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the American Dental Association (ADA) and the State dental boards — conspired to make sure consumers were told that amalgam is "silver." Hardly any of us outside dentistry had any idea that dentists were plowing our mouths full of mercury.