Dentists, dental professionals, Government representatives and environmental leaders urged  the Government for phasing out mercury from dentistry sector by 2018. Yesterday  at a workshop, they demanded to take immediate step…

Lets make a promise to establish a mercury free dentistry. Come froward and lets work together to achieve our goal. Say no to mercury in the treatment of mother and…

Bangladesh Dental Society-BDS and Environment and Social Development Organization-ESDO jointly organized a round table meeting to propose changes in Dental School Curriculum.  At the meeting, professionals and environmental experts emphasized the need of education and hand on knowledge of mercury free alternatives for the next generation of dentists.  They urged the authority to exclude dental amalgam from dental school curriculum and to adopt mercury-free alternatives.
Experts in the meeting on “Dental Collage Curriculum Revision and Adoption” say, Amalgam emits mercury vapor when it is implanted into the body. It crosses the placenta, accumulates in the fetus and cause serious damage. Mercury dental amalgam is the known health risk for children, pregnant women, nursing infants and people with impaired kidney function. Due to mercury exposure from amalgam in the workplace, dentists, students, the technician and patients may suffer from the problems of elevated mercury level in blood. Amalgam pollutes air, water and soil via dental clinic release. Experts describe that once mercury is released into the environment, it gets converted into more toxic methylmercury. It acts as the major source of mercury pollution in fishes we eat. Many alternatives such as glass ionomers, resin composites are now available. The harmful impact of dental amalgam and the necessity of using alternatives is not yet involved in the dental school curriculum of Bangladesh. (more…)