An advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded this week that there are no huge scientific flaws in the agency's 2009 finding that mercury-based dental fillings, known as dental amalgam, are safe for adults and children aged six years and older. However, the panel recommended that the FDA look at more data on the possible health risks that the filling material poses to pregnant women and their fetuses and to young children. "We have to recognize that some patients should not have amalgam," said panel member Amid Ismail, a professor and dean at Temple's Kornberg School of Dentistry.