I stopped using mercury amalgam in 1992 – not because I had read the scientific papers on its dangers that were starting to be published, but because I had never forgotten my physics teacher telling me not to mess about with the stuff in class. Which was exactly what I felt we dentists were doing. When placing or removing a mercury filling, globules of the liquid metal and airborne dust particles seemed to end up everywhere – down the patient’s throat, up the suction tubing, sometimes on the floor. This was the first step towards opening Brighton’s first mercury-safe, Holistic dental practice.