Yesterday, now, or tomorrow?

While researching a recent editorial¹ on contemporary cavity design and, in particular, the designs suggested by Richard Elderton,² I happened upon volume 13 of Dental Update, published throughout 1986. Of particular interest to me was the discovery of the occasional series entitled ‘Dentistry in the year 2000’, not simply because I wanted to glean if there was any truth in the predictions 14 years on (1986 to 2000), but also to ascertain if there was anything which might have pointed readers towards the year 2020. However, it was not solely the ‘2000’ series that took my eye but also the Editorial Comments by Ted Renson.

Readers will be interested to note that, as long ago as 1986, he wrote about the ‘Mercury hazard in dentistry’,³ occasioned by media reports that mercury-containing restorations might be harmful to patients, but pointing out that, if mercury toxicity was a problem, then dental workers and patients (whose life-time exposure to mercury is 10,000 times that of the general population) would have experienced symptoms, which was not the case. Following the Minamata Agreement in 2013, this remains a relevant topic in 2020.