Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Perspective
  • Published:

Dental amalgam: a material choice

British Dental Journal volume 233, pages 872–873 (2022)Cite this article

Key points

  • Albeit in evermore limited clinical situations, dental amalgam remains a material of choice but not the only material of choice.

  • To realise the ambitions of the Minamata Convention and further reduce our use of dental amalgam requires a blend of upstream prevention activities, complemented with a contract for publicly funded dental care that enables minimum intervention oral care and prevention in practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. EUR-Lex. Regulation (EU) 2017/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 on mercury, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1102/2008. 2017. Available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32017R0852 (accessed November 2022).

  2. United Nations Environment Programme. Minamata Convention on Mercury: Text and Annexes. 2019. Available at https://www.mercuryconvention.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Minamata-Convention-booklet-Sep2019-EN.pdf (accessed November 2022).

  3. UK Government. National plan to phase down use of Dental Amalgam in England. 2019. Available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/811635/phasing-down-use-of-dental-amalgam-in-england.pdf (accessed November 2022).

  4. Scottish Government. Amalgam dental fillings: action plan. 2019. Available at https://www.gov.scot/publications/amalgam-dental-fillings-action-plan/#:%20~:%20text=Scotland%20has%20already%20taken%20action,%20Clinical%20Effectiveness%20Programme%20(SDCEP (accessed November 2022).

  5. Welsh Government. A National Plan to phase down the use of dental amalgam in Wales. 2019. Available at https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-07/national-plan-to-phase-down-the-use-of-dental-amalgam-in-wales.pdf (accessed November 2022).

  6. UK Government. Phase down plan for amalgam fillings published. 2019. Available at https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/news/phase-down-plan-amalgam-fillings-published-0 (accessed November 2022).

  7. NHS England. Environment and sustainability: Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: Safe management of healthcare waste. 2013. Available at https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/HTM_07-01_Final.pdf (accessed November 2022).

  8. UK Government. Health and Care Bill: water fluoridation. 2022. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-and-care-bill-factsheets/health-and-care-bill-water-fluoridation (accessed November 2022).

  9. Action on Sugar. Front and Centre: Labelling Works. Available at https://www.actiononsugar.org/blog/front-and-centre-labelling-works/ (accessed November 2022).

  10. UK Government. Sugar Reduction: The evidence for action. 2015. Available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470179/Sugar_reduction_The_evidence_for_action.pdf (accessed November 2022).

  11. UK Government. Delivering better oral health: an evidence-based toolkit for prevention. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/delivering-better-oral-health-an-evidence-based-toolkit-for-prevention (accessed November 2022).

  12. Banerjee A, Watson T F. Pickard's Guide to Minimally Invasive Operative Dentistry. 10th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

  13. NHS England. Avoidance of Doubt: Provision of phased treatments. 2021. Available at https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/avoidance-of-doubt-provision-of-phased-treatments/ (accessed November 2022).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chief Dental Officer for England, London, UK

    Sara Hurley

Authors
  1. Sara Hurley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hurley, S. Dental amalgam: a material choice. Br Dent J 233, 872–873 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-5218-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-5218-2

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links