bobquasit | Amalgam vs. Composite

I forgot to mention that one other advantage of the dental process was that my old filling was amalgam, while the new one is composite. My dentist won't even use amalgam any more; it's too toxic. And yet my dental insurer won't cover the cost of composite. They only pay for amalgam, and the difference in cost comes out of my pocket.

But the mercury in dental amalgam is incredibly toxic; it actually has to be disposed of as toxic waste. And the procedure required to place it in a tooth unnecessarily destroys large amount of healthy tooth as well. Why hasn't amalgam been banned in the US?