Dental case

Despite viral scare, mercury fillings are fine

ON July 22, “Real Housewife” Yolanda Hadid — matriarch of the Hadid brood of supermodels — shared via Instagram (pictured) that she had undergone a controversial procedure to remove old fillings from her teeth.

“I removed all my [m]ercury amalgams,” wrote Hadid, referring to the mercury-based fillings known as dental amalgam.

The practice is steadily gaining interest from patients latching onto the concept of “detoxifying,” but the medical dental community says this kind of procedure can do more harm than good.

Herald Square-based holistic dentist Idelle Brand says she performs the procedure “about 30 times a month,” using what she calls a “mercury safety protocol” that health insurance does not cover. Many of her patients suffer from chronic diseases, such as Lyme (which Hadid has) or lupus, and believe that ridding their bodies of mercury will free up their immune systems to fight off their illnesses.

But the American Dental Association says the procedure is unnecessary and could even be dangerous, since disrupting the filling could subject people to greater doses of mercury than if it’s left in place. The association even considers it unethical for dentists to remove these types of fillings simply to replace them with something else. Their position is shared by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Organization.

“[Hadid’s] recommendation is fake news,” says John Moore, a San Antonio-based dentist and ADA member. “Hundreds of thousands of dentists sit and breathe in mercury-filling dust day in and day out from working on old fillings, proving that the mercury filling scare is just that — a scare.”