CA DENTAL BOARD CEASES TO EXIST, GOVERNOR SIGNED S.B. 134

Hi, folks.

Governor Davis signed S.B. 134 yesterday (Oct. 5). Thus, on Dec. 31, 2001, the California Dental Board ceases to exist. A brand new Board will be appointed. The law also requires that the Fact Sheet must be given to the patient; the dentist has a duty to ensure patients read it before placing any toxins into their mouths. Finally, the Board executive director must be approved by Director Hamilton of the Dept of Consumers Affairs, a step to ensure more consumer accountability. Clearly, the Governor has listened to the California public and put his signature to an excellent new law.

Senator Liz Figueroa wrote the right bill for the right situation. Thank you, Senator! For years, the Board harassed and intimidated mercury-free dentists, threatening and even taking their licenses, preventing the emergence of informed consumer choice. And for nine years, the Board has refused to comply with the Watson law, which requires a Fact Sheet the Board to list the "risks" of mercury amalgam. (You probably know that Diane Watson is now a U.S. Congresswoman, and she continues to play a major role in insisting that the law she wrote be complied with.) At meeting after meeting this year, the Dental Board chose to ignore the presence and testimony of legions of California consumers, instead acceding to the position of the ADA and covering up the risks of mercury fillings. Your voice was ignored by organized dentistry, but it was heard loud and clear in Sacramento. So, by kowtowing to the outrageous position that mercury is safe, the California Dental Board signed its own political death warrant.

So go ahead and pop the root beer. We did it! To put a state agency out of business is almost unprecedented. Kudos to us all, but especially to Anita Vazquez Tibau, who truly electrified this movement in California and built a broad-based coalition of rich and poor, of Hispanic, African-American, Caucasian, and Asian, of victims and consumer advocates. Move over, Erin Brockovitch.

The message is now clear across the nation. In California, the nation's trendsetter state, freedom now exists to practice mercury-free dentistry. Other Boards who harass and intimidate mercury-free dentistry be forewarned: it is time to recognize the strength of our grassroots movement.

After you have emptied the keg of root beer, note that two battles lie ahead this fall in Calif:

1. As a lame duck agency, the Board is trying one more time to adopt a Fact Sheet that complies with the dictates of the ADA. The Board is meeting in L.A. on Oct. 17 for a last-ditch effort to ignore the legislative will. Instead of passing the solemn duty of writing a Fact Sheet on to their legitimate successors, the Board is trying to rush through a midnight Fact Sheet that pretends mercury fillings are safe, even for children and pregnant women.

2. The new Board members: We are deeply proud of Governor Davis and his team for recognizing the need to re-create this Board. Now, we hope the Governor will choose to appoint a diversity of dentists, including some from the large and growing contingency of mercury-free men and women dentists in the state. It is time that the CDA monopoly on dentist appointments be broken; this is the right time for the Governor to do it!

Congratulations to Leo Cashman and the great team at DAMS, who created this movement. And a salute to us all. America can come back.

Charlie
Oct. 6, 2001
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