Now let's see this happen in Australia, US, Canada and the UK!!!

correct URL
http://www.laleva.org/eng/2008/01/de...den mark.html


Dental Mercury Use Banned in Norway, Sweden and Denmark Because Composites
Are Adequate Replacements

Published on Jan 3, 2008 - 7:06:49 AM
By: Mercury Policy Project

Norway recently announced a ban on the use of mercury, including dental
amalgam, that took effect on January 1, 2008. Sweden announced a similar ban
and dentists in Denmark will no longer be allowed to use mercury in fillings
after April 1, 2008.

"These bans clearly indicate that amalgam is no longer needed. There are
viable non-mercury filling substitutes that are used everyday in the US,"
said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project. "By eliminating
amalgam use, which is 50% mercury, we can reduce mercury pollution much more
efficiently than end-of-the-pipeline solutions."

In a prepared statement, Norwegian Minister of the Environment Erik Solheim
said that the reason for the ban is the risk that mercury from products may
constitute in the environment. "Mercury is among the most dangerous
environmental toxins. Satisfactory alternatives to mercury in products are
available, and it is therefore fitting to introduce a ban," said Solheim.

The Swedish amalgam ban is for both environmental and health issues,
according to authorities. Danish officials indicate that the reason for
banning amalgam is also because composites have become better, and may now
be used in many more situations than a few years ago.

Teeth will have to be mended with e.g. plastic or ceramics. Exceptions to
use amalgam may be granted for a certain period after the ban, if dentists
apply for it.

"Composite fillings have now become so strong that the Danish National Board
of Health says that we can expand the ban to also include amalgam fillings,"
said the (Danish) Minister of Health Jakob Axel Nielsen to "TV Avisen".

Authorities note that when the ban takes effect in Denmark in four months
time, the present subsidy for amalgam will be changed so that it will
instead cover dental fillings of composite material.

Since the health insurance stopped paying for amalgam restorations in Sweden
in 1999, the use has decreased markedly and is now estimated to be 2-5% of
all fillings.