14 April 2022

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Global call to end amalgam use for kids, pregnant women

Katherine E. Pfaff

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In March, a number of countries agreed to stop the use of amalgam in dental treatment for pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and children. The move was agreed to by 130 countries during the March 26, 2022 meeting at the 4th Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The conference is a gathering based on the initial Minamata treaty. 

Dental amalgam is a filling which is purported to be “silver” though it is in fact made up of content that includes about 50% mercury, according to the consumer advocacy group, Consumers for Dental Choice, which reported the news. 

"The world unites to say that mercury is not safe in the mouths of children and their mothers – and its use must stop, this year.” Said Charlie Brown, president of the World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry and executive director of Consumers for Dental Choice. "We salute the nations of Africa, all 54 of them, for initiating and presenting this splendid proposal. Too, we praise the World Health Organization for calling for a worldwide switch to 'minimally-invasive' and mercury-free dental materials."

Specially, the agreement called for halting dental amalgam’s use in patients under age 15 and in women who are breastfeeding or pregnant. However, Brown said that the alliance means distributors and manufacturers should halt selling the product as it may be used in the identified populations.

"Dentists must stop placing amalgam in children and in young women – now." Brown cautioned. "This new amendment represents a worldwide consensus that dental amalgam is not safe for children and other vulnerable populations – it is not safe in their mouths, and it is not safe in their environment."

The move was an effort to protect patients vulnerable to the effect of mercury. In 2020, the FDA recommended against the use of dental amalgam in children and pregnant women. 

source: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/consumers-for-dental-choice-salutes-worldwide-decision-to-protect-children-and-pregnant-women-from-mercury-dental-fillings-301515504.html