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References

McColl E, Burke FJT End of the road for dental amalgam?. Dent Update. 2024; 51:7-8
McColl E, Witton R, Mathews A Vodka-assisted extraction. Br Dent J. 2022; 233 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-5045-5
British Dental Association. The amalgam ban: what you need to know. 2024. http://www.bda.org/news-and-opinion/news/theamalgam-ban-what-you-need-to-know/
European Network for Environmental Medicine. Updated: Manufacturers leaving the business of dental amalgam in Europe. 2023. https://www.environmentalmedicine.eu/manufacturers-exitingthe-amalgam-business-in-europe/
Dental practice in the UK in 2015/2016. Part 2: aspects of direct restorations, bleaching, endodontics and paediatric dentistry. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2019.50
European Council. Mercury: Council ready to start talks with Parliament to completely phase out mercury in the EU. 2024. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/01/30/mercury-council-ready-to-start-talks-with-parliament-to-completelyphase-out-mercury-in-the-eu/

A dental knell or wake-up call?

From Volume 51, Issue 2, February 2024 | Pages 77-78

Authors

Ewen McColl

BSc(Hons), BDS, MFDS, FDS RCPS, MCGDent, MRD RCS Ed, MClinDent, FDS RCS(Rest Dent), FHEA, FDTF(Ed)

Director of Clinical Dentistry; Peninsula Dental School, University of Plymouth

Articles by Ewen McColl

Email Ewen McColl

FJ Trevor Burke

DDS, MSc, MDS, MGDS, FDS (RCS Edin), FDS RCS (Eng), FCG Dent, FADM,

Articles by FJ Trevor Burke

Article

As the January Dental Update Comment went to press,1 the European Union swiftly ratified the banning of dental amalgam from use and export, with an implementation date of January 2025, except when the use of dental amalgam is deemed strictly necessary by the dental practitioner to address specific medical needs of the patient (a previously used, rather ambiguous term). This led to an outcry from across the profession in the UK, with the British Dental Association highlighting the impact on an already struggling NHS dental service. Indeed, the impact of the amalgam ban in the EU may disproportionately affect the patients who present with late caries, as is frequently seen across the UK, accepting that many patients never have the opportunity to get as far as a dentist.2 The British Dental Association highlighted that since the Minimata Agreement in 2013, we have known this was coming, but not quite now, stating:3

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