“The World Alliance also salutes the work of the Africa region and African governments in the march toward mercury-free dentistry.

“The Abuja Declaration for Mercury-Free Dentistry for Africa sets the pace.  The government of Mauritius ended amalgam use for children, whilst Dental schools from Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya have made major curriculum shifts to educate this generation of dentists,” Mr Brown stated at the Conference of the Parties (COP 1) to the Minamata Convention on Mercury, in Geneva, Switzerland.

He said Dental mercury is a major source of black-market mercury in illegal gold mining. “If we end dental amalgam, we have a two-fold gain. The World Alliance salutes the nations across Asia for their pioneering work for mercury-free dentistry”. 

Mr Brown’s statement was made available to the Ghana News Agency in Accra from Geneva, in Accra on Thursday.  The Dental Council of India ended the amalgam proficiency requirement, freeing up dental schools to be entirely mercury-free.  In China, a multi-stakeholder conference was held involving the government of China and civil societies for the road map for mercury-free dentistry . . . Similar national stakeholder conferences were held in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam. 

He said the Dhaka Declaration for Mercury-Free Dentistry for Asia shows the commitment of civil society to move to this goal.The phase-out of amalgam for children is the key phase down step: Milk teeth are less complex, longevity is not a factor, and there’s the obvious rule of precaution when implanting a gram of mercury centimeters from a child’s developing brain.

It means the emergence of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) – even in the villages that lack electricity.   As the WHO report Future Use of Materials for Dental Restoration says: “Alternative restorative materials of sufficient quality are available for use” for the milk teeth. “When you return to your home nations, please do as the European Union has done: phase out amalgam for children now.  For one simple reason:  The children of your nation are equally important to the children of Europe,” Mr Brown stated.