Expert Available to Discuss FDA Decision on Mercury Fillings

For media covering the FDA announcement that dental fillings that contain mercury do not contain “high enough levels [of mercury] to cause harm in patients,” UMDNJ is offering expert comment.

Dr. Arnold Rosenheck, an associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery and the assistant dean of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School is available to discuss the use of dental amalgams and the implications of the FDA announcement.

The new FDA ruling reflects agency reviews and public comment periods conducted over the past seven years and reclassifies dental amalgam, used widely for dental fillings, as well as its two components – elemental mercury and powder alloy. Previously, the FDA had classified the two components, but had not issued a regulation that classified dental amalgam.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state’s three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.

Source: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)