Explosive and Revealing:
Investigative Journalism
CBS's 60 Minutes Exposé on the Safety / Toxicity of Mercury Fillings
📅 Historical Context
Air Date: December 16, 1990
Program: CBS 60 Minutes
Episode Title: "Is There Poison in Your Mouth?"
Source Material: Referenced in Tooth Traitors (Chapter 6)
Order Info: CBS 1-800-848-3256
📖 Article Source
The following content is excerpted from the article "Is Mercury Toxicity an Autoimmune Disorder?" by Keith W. Sehnert, MD, Gary Jacobson, DDS, Kip Sullivan, JD.
🎤 The Revealing Interview
Key Participants
📺 Morley Safer
CBS 60 Minutes Correspondent
🦷 Dr. Heber Simmons
Dental Representative
It's All in Your Head: The Link Between Mercury Amalgams and Illness
Amalgam Dental Fillings: The Poison in our Teeth
🎯 The Central Contradiction
The interview revealed a striking contradiction: while dentists claim mercury amalgam is "perfectly safe" once hardened in patients' mouths, they simultaneously follow strict safety protocols when handling the same material in their offices.
📝 Interview Transcript Excerpts
📺 Morley Safer (CBS):
"While the ADA publicly advocates the safety of amalgam, it cautions dentist to use a no-touch technique when handling the material, and to store the scrap, the leftovers that have not gone into a patient's mouth, under liquid in a tightly closed container."
"If it's so volatile, so dangerous in a dentist's hands, how on earth can it be safe in our mouths?"
🦷 Dr. Simmons:
"Morely, you've to to understand, uh, how amalgam really works. If it's in a free form, the mercury that is in amalgam is dangerous. But it, when it forms with the copper, the tin, the zinc, and the silver that, that make up the amalgam filling, it becomes a stable compound at that time. Once it is mixed and placed in a patient's mouth, it is a stable compound and it does not constitute a risk."
📺 Safer:
"What do you do with your scrap amalgam?"
🦷 Dr. Simmons:
"What we do in our own practice, is we keep it in a jar, that has glycerine in the jar, we pull the scrap in there, put a top on it, so that it is not exposed in any way. It's in an airtight jar all the time."
"That is the recommended way of taking care of it in a dental office. That is what's been recommended by the scientists so that's the way we do it."
🏛️ The Industry Response
⚖️ ADA's Counterattack
The dental establishment was furious with CBS. The ADA attacked CBS in the January 7, 1991 edition of its newspaper for "the irresponsible ways in which viewers were led to the conclusion that amalgam fillings are unsafe."
🗣️ Official ADA Response:
"Scientific evidence suggests mercury amalgam is safe to use."
📰 Media Campaign
- • Information packets to dentists nationwide
- • Two-minute video news release to 700 TV stations
- • Weekly radio show coverage
- • Journal of American Dental Association articles
🏛️ Government Support
Dr. Harold Loe, director of National Institute of Dental Research, criticized CBS for having "an obvious bias" against amalgams.
📺 The Aftermath
As a result, CBS backed down and never aired the program again.
However, a copy of the video can be ordered by contacting CBS at 1-800-848-3256 and requesting the 1990 60 Minutes segment titled "Is There Poison in Your Mouth?"
🔍 Key Observations
❓ The Inconsistency
The interview highlighted a fundamental inconsistency: if mercury amalgam becomes "perfectly safe" once hardened, why do dental offices require such stringent safety protocols for handling the same hardened material?
📊 The Response Pattern
Dr. Simmons' admission that he wants to "be as safe as I can" when working with amalgam 5 days a week directly contradicts the safety claims for patients who have this material in their mouths 24/7 for years.
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