American Indian, consumer groups: Stop dental mercury on reservations
WASHINGTON (PRNewswire-
USNewswire) – The International Indian
Treaty Council and Consumers for Dental
Choice filed a petition in February calling
on the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs
and the Secretary of Health and Human
Services (who runs the Indian Health Ser-
vice) to end the use of amalgam – a dental
filling that is 50 percent mercury – in Indian
Health Service clinics and on Tribal lands.
In 2013, the U.S. signed the legally
binding Minamata Convention on Mer-
cury, which requires the government to
phase down dental amalgam use. The con-
vention specifically calls for “discouraging
insurance policies and programmes that
favour dental amalgam use over mercury-
free dental restoration” and “encouraging
insurance policies and programmes that
favour the use of quality alternatives to
dental amalgam for dental restoration.” 1
Violating the government’s promise
to phase down amalgam use, the U.S.
Indian Health Service (IHS) continues
to favor mercury fillings for American
Indians. Dental amalgam is disproportion-
ately used in racial minorities, including
American Indians.
A 2011 study published in the Journal
of the American Dental Association found
Time to apply for Siletz Tribal Head
Start’s 2016-2017 school year
It’s time to apply for your child to attend the Siletz Tribal Head Start program for
our upcoming 2016-2017 school year.
If your child will be age 3 or 4 as of Sept. 1, 2016, he/she is eligible to enroll in
the Siletz Tribal Head Start program. Call us at 800-922-1399 or 541-444-2532 and
ask for Head Start to request an application.
There are new enrollment requirements that all Head Start programs must meet.
All Head Start programs are now required to conduct either a face-to-face or telephone
interview with all applicants to verify the information on their child’s application. So
when you return your application, we will be calling to verify the information with you.
This new requirement must be met before we can select your child for enrollment
into our program. If we are unable to reach you, we will leave a detailed message asking
you to call us back. Please call us back as soon as possible so we can finish processing
your child’s enrollment application.
This is a mandatory requirement we must meet and we are unable to enroll any child
until we complete this verification process. If you have questions about our program,
call either number above and ask for Head Start.
that dental amalgam is used for 73 percent
of dental restorations in patients of “other”
race (defined as American Indian/Alaska
Native/Asian/Pacific Islander). Mean-
while, dental amalgam is used for only 51
percent of restorations in white patients. 2
IHS’s continuing use of dental amal-
gam for American Indians contributes
to separate-but-”equal” dental treatment
– mercury fillings for American Indians,
increasingly mercury-free fillings for
everyone else.
IHS still uses amalgam in American
Indian children even though the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowl-
edges there is minimal evidence that amal-
gam is safe for children and the unborn:
“Very limited to no clinical information is
available regarding long-term health out-
comes in pregnant women and their devel-
oping fetuses, and children under the age of
six, including infants who are breastfed.” 3
In fact, FDA’s dental amalgam rule
concedes that “The developing neurologi-
cal systems in fetuses and young children
may be more sensitive to the neurotoxic
effects of mercury vapor.” 4
1
2
3
4
Minamata Convention on Mercury (2013),
mercuryconvention.org/
Sonia K. Makhija, Valeria V. Gordan, Gregg
H. Gilbert, Mark S. Litaker, D. Brad Rindal,
Daniel J. Pihlstrom and Vibeke Qvist, Prac-
titioner, patient and carious lesion charac-
teristics associated with type of restorative
material: Findings from The Dental Practice-
Based Research Network, J Am Dent Assoc
2011;142;622-632, jada.ada.org/article/
S0002-8177(14)65564-1/pdf, p.629
FDA Special Controls Guidance Document on
Dental Amalgam, fda.gov/MedicalDevices/
DeviceRegulationandGuidance/GuidanceD-
ocuments/ucm073311.htm
FDA Special Controls Guidance Document on
Dental Amalgam, fda.gov/MedicalDevices/
DeviceRegulationandGuidance/GuidanceD-
ocuments/ucm073311.htm
Art camp in Portland accepting applications
The Journeys Art Camp is a free pre-college artist-in-residence camp on the
Oregon College of Art and Craft campus (Portland, Ore.) specifically designed
for American Indian (and Native Hawaiians/indigenous youth) age 15-19.
The deadline to submit materials is May 1. Only 12 students will be accepted.
For more information, visit ocac.edu/community-programs/journeys-program.
A. Susana Santos’
Journeys in Creativity
Pre College
Residential Art Camp
for Native American Teens
SHATTERING STEREOTYPES
The Confluence of Indigenous Art and Glass
August 5th–18th, 2016
2016 Standing Committee Vacancies
Applications Due by April 13, 2016
For Tribal members interested in serving on a Standing Committee, please
fill out this form and return it prior to April 13, 2016.
Please mail or fax your application to Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians,
Attn: Executive Secretary to Tribal Council, P.O. Box 549, Siletz, OR 97380-0549;
fax: 541-444-8325.
Name: ___________________________________ Roll No: __________________
Address: _________________________________________________________
City: ____________________________ State: _____________ ZIP: __________
Telephone: Day ( ) _________________ Evening ( ) _____________________
If you only want to be considered for one committee, please indicate by
inserting the number 1 next to the committee of interest. If you have interest in
more than one committee, please indicate by numbering your preference 1 (first
choice), 2 (second choice) and 3 (third choice).
__ Education Committee (2 vacancies)
__ Natural Resources Committee (1 vacancy)
__ Enrollment Committee (1 vacancy)
Committee appointments will be made at the Regular Tribal Council meet-
ing in April.
If you have any questions, please call Tami Miner, executive secretary to Tribal
Council, at 800-922-1399, ext. 1203, or 541-444-8203.
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Siletz News
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April 2016