Table of Contents - July/August • 2003

Presidents Message
Central Office Report
Section Chair Caucus
Bay Cliff Health Camp
Awards
Past PFA President Martin Naimark 2003 Calendar
PFA Annual Meeting Schedule
 Desk of the Executive Director
FDA Dental Amalgam Review Foundation Section News
PFA Dental Museum
 Section News- International
The Legacy Continues…
 Section News- United States
PFA Adds Another Book
 Beverage of Choice for Teens
Minority Dentists Honored
Dental World
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July/August • 2003
Page 3

ADA Response to FDA Dental Amalgam Review
In recent months, concern over the use of the traditional silver-mercury amalgam has been raised again by certain Congressmen in the United States interested in banning its use.

On 9 May 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced in the Federal Register that they will be establishing a panel to review the dental literature on the use of amalgam. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, along with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, will cosponsor the review. The stated purpose is to determine whether any published studies in peer-reviewed scientific literature provide any evidence related to the health effects in using dental amalgam in patients. The review will search literature from 1 January 1996 up to 1 June 2003.

Comments have been made that the time frame is too confining and that significant studies may predate 1996 and should be considered as well. While the FDA has stated that “an independent group will conduct the review,” questions have come up about who will be doing the review, their qualifications, how they are selected, and the methodology that will be used. These questions have been asked in order that the scientific community may have an opportunity to comment. While selecting reviewers with “no potential bias or conflict of interest” is worthy, it also excludes knowledgeable individuals who have previously been involved in such studies and reports, thus denying the expertise the agency would need to make an accurate evaluation.

ADA Executive Director James B. Bramson has announced that the ADA has issued comment that the Review Board should contain qualified dental experts that are familiar with the material and its clinical use. It is possible that anti-amalgam groups could use this opportunity to place inappropriate restrictions on the use of amalgam.

 n Dr. Bramson’s reply to the FDA, the ADA has submitted a bibliography of peer-reviewed journal articles published from 1996 to mid 2003 concerning the effects of dental amalgam on humans. That data supplied was a cross search from the MEDLINE and the Toxnet databases. More than 400 articles were produced on the physical and biological properties of dental amalgam. But the ADA noted that prior studies to the 1996 date exist and have stood the test of time. These should be included as well. These articles were the subject of the prior 1993 federal agency reviews, and those in 1997. These were included in the 1994 Swedish review, the 1995 Canadian review, the 1996 World Health Organization review, and the combined 1997 Canadian and WHO review. Dr. Bramson noted that significant studies should not be excluded just because they fall before the 1996 time limit.

The ADA supplied the bibliography but with the understanding that it did not endorse them. In fact, the ADA is on record as challenging a number of the studies on scientific grounds. But in the spirit of neutrality, the ADA supplied the entire list without screening out the ones they objected to. That is why the ADA questions the level of integrity of the planned FDA review to include appropriate screening criteria.

The ADA requested the FDA to publish the scientific methodology or protocol, which the ADA would expect to include such factors as background, objectivity, inclusion criteria, search strategy, quality assessment criteria, data extraction, and analysis.

Anyone wishing to provide comments to the FDA should send such to:

Dockets Managements Branch (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, Maryland, 20852

Or contact them at: http://www.FDA.gov/dockets/ecomments



PFA Dental Museum

The PFA Dental Museum, currently located at the Community College of Southern Nevada, has been opened for tours by interested individuals and patients awaiting their dental appointments. But recently other organizations have scheduled visits. A group of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts working on their Dentistry Badges toured the facility hosted by Dr. Tyree Davis of UNLV’s Miles for Smiles Program and the UNLV School of Dentistry. About 40 scouts were involved in the program on dental history offered by our museum. They were amazed to learn that George Washington’s teeth were not made of wood, but actually hippopotamus ivory. They viewed an authentic set of false teeth from the 1790s, dental office displays from the 1940s and 1960s, early instruments, old reference books, a treadle-power dental drill circa 1871, and the collection of colorful posters. This was an eye-opening experience for the Scouts to see the evolution of our profession and its rich heritage.

CDA Carole Brew, who aided in the tour’s explanations, was quite pleased with the young kids’ reactions.

Secretary/Treasurer Richard Kozal noted that the Museum has been incorporated in the State of Nevada as a tax-deductible organization. And as Museum Curator, he wants to thank all the contributors to this worthwhile cause while the history of dentistry in this country is still available.
Museum Contributors:

Drs. Joseph Morganelli, Raymond Rawson, David Kozal, Richard Kozal, Jon Staley, Nicholas Saccone (past PFA President), Paul Dolin, George Higue (past PFA President), James Ridlen (past CDS President), Chester Bochenek, Carl Lundgren (past PFA President), Jerry Rabeck, Raffaele Suriano (past Loyola Dental School Dean), Frank Amaturo (past Loyola Dental School Associate Dean), James Brophy III, James Long (past PFA President), Bertram Moldauer (Guatemala/Belize Chair), Ivan Moldauer, B. G. Smith, Baxter Sapp, William Scheer, Michael Grossman, Richard Glenner, Samuel Wexer, Jack Gottschalk, John Hyson, Jr., M. David Campbell (past PFA president), R. L. Morrison, Robert Ibsen of Den-Mat Corp., RDH Mary Ann Haag, RDH Barbara Nelson, RDH Linda Simpson and RDH Karen Mulcahy.


The Legacy Continues…

While it approaches nearly a year since General Robert Shira has retired from our presence, donations to the Foundation in his name are still being received. Please continue this legacy that this great man was so dedicated to, right up to the moment of his demise. Send your contributions to Foundation Executive Director Shig Kishi, 1441 Avocado Avenue, Suite 508, Newport Beach, California, 93660. Even if you have contributed before, continue the legacy again in Dr. Shira’s memory.

Thank you to Dr. H. Burton McCauley of Baltimore, Maryland, for continuing to remember.
 PFA Adds Another Book

Over the decades, the Pierre Fauchard Academy has undertaken the publication and/or sale of books that have been considered worthy for our profession, but have limited general public appeal.

One of the first was Legacy by the late PFA Editor Cliff Loader and Foundation Executive Director Shig Kishi, which has recently come into prominence with the passing of Dr. Robert Shira and his passage in this collection of dental philosophies of life.

The second publication was the English version of The Life and Times of Pierre Fauchard, which was originally published in French by Dr. Andre Besombes and then translated into English by our own past President, and current Foundation Treasurer, George Higue. Through Dr. Higue’s generosity, this work has been donated to most English-speaking dental school libraries. Some copies are still available.

The third work was assembled by Mrs. Mitch Nakayama and called The 25th History of the Japanese PFA Section. Copies are still available.

The newest addition to our book club is How It Evolved/ Dentistry’s Pursuit for Excellence by Dr. Richard A. Glenner. This work is an account of dentistry’s evolution of equipment, instruments, supplies, and the techniques used in dental offices. This illustrated volume is the companion to the author’s previously published book, The Dental Office.

The 8-1/2" 11 format is softbound or comes in a CD-ROM format. The price is $30, including shipping and handling. It may be ordered from PFA, P.O. Box 80330, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89180-0330. Make checks payable to the Pierre Fauchard Academy.

Minority Dentists Honored

The Samuel Harris National Museum of Dentistry in Baltimore, in association with the Smithsonian Institute, is currently hosting an exhibit “African Americans in Dentistry” at the Museum’s Saccente Gallery now through August. National Dental Association President Roosevelt Brown, in opening the exhibit, hailed it as “a timely addition to the history of American dentistry. The exhibition highlights the major contributions of African Americans to dental practice, education, public health, and research.” Chief consultant on this projects was USC’s Professor Emeritus Dr. Clifton Dummett, whose recent book NDA II: The Story of America’s Second National Dental Association was the inspiration for the exhibit. Both the exhibit and the book were underwritten by the NDA Foundation in partnership with Colgate-Palmolive Company.


Table of Contents - July/August • 2003

Presidents Message
Central Office Report
Section Chair Caucus
Bay Cliff Health Camp
Awards
Past PFA President Martin Naimark 2003 Calendar
PFA Annual Meeting Schedule
 Desk of the Executive Director
FDA Dental Amalgam Review Foundation Section News
PFA Dental Museum
 Section News- International
The Legacy Continues…
 Section News- United States
PFA Adds Another Book
 Beverage of Choice for Teens
Minority Dentists Honored
Dental World
 —
Page
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8




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