9/28/2023 8:41:43 PM
The Children’s Amendment to the amalgam reduction requirement of the Minamata Convention will enter into force on 28 September 2023!
At the 4th Conference of the Parties in Indonesia last March, our powerhouse coalition, the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry, succeeded in gaining protection from dental amalgam for the most vulnerable consumers. We won the Children’s Amendment, which requires that Parties “Exclude or not allow, by taking measures as appropriate, or recommend against the use of dental amalgam for the dental treatment of deciduous teeth, of patients under 15 years and of pregnant and breastfeeding women…”
7/5/2022 8:27:11 PM
Experts continue to express concern that many children of color and low-income children are still receiving mercury fillings despite the risks. In their Health Affairs article "Children of Color and Low-Income Kids Still Receive Unsafe Mercury-Based Dental Fillings", Dr. Rueben C. Warren, DDS, MPH, DrPH, MDiv of Tuskegee University and Dr. Mark Mitchell,MD, MPH, FACPM of George Mason University observe that
3/30/2022 9:10:36 PM
Reflecting a remarkable shift in global opinion, the nations of the world have amended the Minamata Convention on Mercury to call for ending amalgam use in children and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. On 25 March 2022, the Parties to the Minamata Convention (that is, the national governments) decided unanimously to amend this international treaty to…,
3/17/2022 9:41:52 PM
Dentsply Sirona quietly stopped its amalgam sales, as announced last year. Now the other major U.S. amalgam manufacturer, Kerr (currently a subsidiary of Envista Holdings Corporation and previously a subsidiary of Danaher), has announced that it has “…ceased manufacturing all Alloy products, including all of our amalgam products that may contain mercury.”
12/8/2021 7:42:19 PM
In the clearest sign yet that amalgam is headed to the dustbins of history, Dentsply Sirona – the world's largest manufacturer of dental products – has exited the amalgam market. In its annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, this industry behemoth quietly noted:
"[W]e have discontinued sales for all amalgam products as of December 2020."
The coup de grâce for Dentsply appears to have been U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recommendation against amalgam use in high-risk populations. As Dentsply explained: