Austin Dental Wellness - Joan Sefcik, DDS

07/30/2026

07/27/2026

There's real movement at the federal level on mercury fillings. The Department of Health and Human Services recently confirmed that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is urging every state Medicaid program to phase out coverage for mercury based dental fillings, pointing to the same health concerns we've been talking about here for years, particularly for pregnant women, young children, and anyone with existing neurological or kidney issues.
This follows the Indian Health Service's own commitment earlier this year to eliminate mercury amalgam in its facilities by 2027, and it lines up with a broader international agreement the US is already part of, which sets a 2034 deadline to phase out dental amalgam entirely.
Of course, none of this changes anything about how we practice here, as we have long been mercury-free and follow the IABDM’s PROTECT Protocol for safe amalgam removal, a standard Dr. Sefcik knows well as a past president of the organization.

07/21/2026

Most of you already know her, but here's a little more about the doctor behind the practice.
Dr. Joan Sefcik is a San Antonio native who practiced conventional dentistry for nearly a decade before being introduced to biological dentistry, and she never looked back. Today she's a past president and current Master of the International Academy of Biological Dentistry and Medicine, where she also oversees mentoring for dentists new to the field. She's a member of the IAOMT, the Holistic Dental Association, Dental Amalgam Mercury Solutions, and the Weston Price Foundation, and she's active locally with Fluoride Free Austin.
Outside the office, she's usually gardening, doing yoga, or taking a course on nutrition or herbal medicine, always learning something new to bring back to her patients. In her words: "I'm contributing to the overall health of the patient. It's rewarding to see patients who have been suffering for a long time from various illnesses improve after the toxins and infections are removed from their mouths."

07/15/2026

New analysis is putting hard numbers behind something biological dentists have said for years: adults with "silver" fillings have measurably higher mercury levels in their blood than adults without them, and the more filling surfaces someone has, the higher those levels climb.

Here's the detail that rarely comes up chairside: amalgam is roughly 50% mercury by weight, and mercury v***r releases every time you chew, swallow, grind, or drink something hot.
If you've still got amalgam in your mouth, that doesn't mean panic, it means make an informed choice. We're always glad to walk you through your options, including what safe removal actually looks like.

Read more here:

Dental 'silver fillings' are made with roughly 50% mercury, and researchers found adults with amalgam fillings carried significantly higher blood mercury levels than people without them.

07/06/2026

As of June 30, 2026, the European Union's phase out of the production and import of dental amalgam is set to take effect, the next step in a phase out that's been years in the making.

It's a significant milestone in the global mercury-free dentistry movement, and one more sign that the shift away from amalgam is picking up speed worldwide. If you still have amalgam fillings and have questions about your options or safe removal, we're always here to talk it through.
Read more here:

Global Overview of Countries Phasing Out Dental Amalgam: According to the Minamata Conventions Full National Reports 2021, the MIAs, or other official documents, the global transition to a mercury-free dentistry is fully underway...

07/04/2026

Mercury is in retrograde starting on June 29th, and around here that's our cue to talk about the other kind of mercury. The kind that has no business being in your mouth. If you've got old amalgam fillings and have been thinking about having them safely removed, consider this your sign. We'll be sharing more this month on what that process actually looks like and why it matters.

More info here: https://tinyurl.com/4wxbr2dz