The evidence of genotoxic damage in the oral mucosa due to dental fillings is very questionable

Abstract

The general public has a substantial interest in the safety of dental amalgam and alternative dental restoration materials as indicated by the recent request of the European Commission to the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) to update, if appropriate, the opinion on this subject adopted in 2008 (http://ec.europa. eu/health/scientific_committees/emerging/docs/scenihr_q_ 034.pdf). As members of the large population carrying restorative dental fillings we felt attracted by the subject of the study reported in this journal by Visalli et al. (2013), although none of us is actively involved in any work in this area. Yet, we cannot agree with the conclusions drawn by the authors that their data ‘‘provide unequivocal evidence’’ for genotoxic damage in the oral mucosa due to such fillings and that their findings are ‘‘of particular relevance.’’ This is based on the following considerations: