Update dental curricula

The Minamata Convention lists “encouraging representative professional organizations and dental schools to educate and train dental professionals and students on the use of mercury-free dental restoration alternatives” as a measure to phase down amalgam use.  To reach the next generation of dentists, dental curricula must be updated – from classroom lecture…to dental school clinics… to licensing exams.

Why is it effective? 

Updating dental school curricula to promote mercury-free dentistry can help phase down amalgam use. Many dental schools still teach amalgam first and then provide instruction on mercury-free dental restorations later.  Consequently, dentists tend to rely on amalgam, especially in posterior teeth (back teeth).  As a recent study explains, “The risk in providing instruction in amalgam placement techniques before posterior resin-based composite placement techniques is that students base their approach to operative dentistry on outdated principles” (Lynch 2011).

Read More:

Posted by admin on Dec 29 2019. Filed under News at Now, No Mercury. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry