摘要：Because of its mercury content, the dental amalgam causes controversies for the 19th century. Thus, at the time of the diffusion of the European reports of the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Risks (SCENIHR) and of the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER), the positions of the scientific community in the United States, in Canada, and in Europe as for the risk of mercury coming from dental amalgams on health were analyzed.The principal points of the reports and the recommendations of good practice, emitted by the scientific authorities, are presented. It arises that the harmlessness of dental amalgams for the patients is recognized by the International Dental Federation, the World Health Organization, American Council one Science and Health, American Dental Association, Food and Drug Administration, and Health Canada. The French position is the same of that the United States. On the other hand, some Scandinavian countries took measures to limit or to prohibit the use of the dental amalgam.Norway made its decision of prohibition for environmental reasons and not of public health. The allergic risk exists for the mercury contained in the amalgams, but with a frequency it less low than for alternate materials containing resin seems. The latter would notreliable and studied enough to promote systematically their substitution of the dental amalgam.From the elements of the research evidence-based, it arises that the positions of the scientific community of the American northern countries and Europeans converge to indicate that the dental amalgam, in spite of the presence of mercury, does not present major health risks of the patients. It is thus important that the political decisions of the European institutions are made by holding account of the current scientific evidence and not under the pressure of professional lobbies and/or economic.Prat Organ Soins 2009;40(2):133-44
关键词：Dental amalgam ; consumer product safety ; product surveillance ; postmarketing ; health safety ; public health.
