An absolute ban on dentists has been introduced. The new law is already in force. There will be more changes

• From 2025, the use and export of mercury fillings will be banned in most European Union member states.
• In Poland, amalgam fillings have not been used in dental offices that have contracts with the National Health Fund since October 2022.
• This is not the end of the changes. From 2026 and 2027, EU countries will also stop producing, importing and exporting certain lamps containing mercury. On Tuesday, a new EU regulation on mercury came into force

For many years, mercury was a substance that was often used, especially in dental amalgams. This will change now, because the new EU regulation on this substance, amending the previous regulations, introduces, among other things, a ban on its use in fillings. It also prohibits the export of mercury.

In most Member States, the ban will enter into force from 2025.

Those countries that need more time to adapt their healthcare systems to the new regulations – such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where mercury fillings are fully reimbursed by the public health system – have been granted temporary derogations that will expire on June 30, 2026.

In the future, dental filling materials will no longer contain mercury, except when required by medical need or prescribed by a physician.

• By 2027 at the latest, EU countries will also stop producing, importing and exporting certain categories of lamps containing mercury .
• Depending on the lamp category, the production ban will come into force in 2026 or 2027.
• Existing devices will be replaced with alternative ones, e.g. LED diodes, which are less toxic and more energy efficient.

The aim of the new rules is to end the deliberate use of mercury in the EU and eliminate this highly toxic substance from the environment in line with the EU's "zero pollution" goal.

Mercury is an environmental problem because it spreads easily over long distances, accumulates, and has a long lifespan. It also has harmful effects on human health, including transfer from mother to child through the placenta or during breastfeeding.

Products containing mercury, including dental amalgam and mercury lamps, represent the largest intentional use of the substance in the EU, but – despite this – were not fully included in the previous EU Mercury Regulation of 2017. In the meantime, experts say mercury-free alternatives are now readily available and cost-effective.

Also read: Forgotten disease takes its toll. 30-fold increase in L4

Source: PAP, Prepared by AN

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