today APDC Singapore 2015

news4 APDC Singapore 2015 Representatives of dental and civil society organisations in Asia recently signed a declaration that calls for a phase-out of dental fill- ings containing mercury through- out the region. The agreement also aims for the cease of trade in amal- gam and to educate dental profes- sionals about mercury-free alter- natives, such as Atraumatic Restorative Treatment. Use of amalgam in the treat- ment of children and pregnant women is to be prohibited already this year, the paper states. It also calls for developing measures to raise public awareness about the environmental hazards of amal- gam and to help hospitals and den- tal institutions continent wide to provide mercury-free dental health care services. An overall phase-out of amal- gam in dentistry in Asia is targeted for 2020. Signed by dental representa- tives from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, the declaration is considered a practical step to- wards implementing the Mina- mata Convention on Mercury, an international agreement signed by 87 countries two years ago in Japan, that has banned the use of the substance in industrial prod- uctslikebatteriesandfluorescents lamps, on the continent. Although amalgam is generally exempt from the ban, the convention recom- mended phasing down its use in dentistry worldwide. If implemented effectively, the new declaration, formulated in Dakha, Bangladesh, last Novem- ber, would make Asia the largest and most densely populated conti- nenttophaseoutthecontroversial material, said Dillip Pattanaik, Ex- ecutive Director of the Orissa State Volunteers and Social Workers As- sociation, a local non-profit organi- sation, and one of the initiators of the initiative. “Amalgam is a primitive, pollut- ing product whose high metal con- tent leads to cracked teeth. It is so old that it pre-dates the birth of Mahatma Gandhi. It has no role in 21st century dentistry and it is gen- erallyrejectedamongyoungerand more modern dentists,” he com- mented. While mercury-free dentistry is growing even in rural parts of India, Pattanaik said, more than 70 per cent of dentists in the coun- tryarestillusingitastheirprimary filling material. The widespread use results in 65 tons of amalgam wasteperyear,which,despitenew initiatives to educate dentists about the benefits of amalgam sep- arators, is released into the envi- ronment. It is then transformed into methylmercury, a highly toxic formofthemetalthatposeshealth riskstowildlifeandhumanbeings. “The large number of dental practitioners and dental profes- sionalsbothintheprivateandgov- ernment sectors are unaware of thesethingsandrequiredtobesen- sitised to avoid amalgam disposal throughthenormalsewersystem,” Prof.MaheshVerma,IndianDental AssociationPresidentandDirector and Principal of the Maulana Azad InstituteofDentalSciencesinNew Delhi, told Dental Tribune Asia Pa- cific. Religious practices like Hindu cremations further add to the en- vironmental problem, as they re- lease mercury from dental fillings into the air. Whiletheenvironmentaleffects of amalgam waste in Asia remain largelyunknown,itisbelievedthat the continent contributes signifi- cantly to the overall global burden. Accordingtoa2013reportreleased bytheUnitedNationsEnvironment Programme, amalgam waste enter- ingthesolidwastestreamamounts to 340 tons worldwide. Total emis- sionsofmercuryresultingfromcre- mation of human remains were es- timated at 3.6 tons. PRINT DIGITAL EDUCATION EVENTS The DTI publishing group is composed of the world’s leading dental trade publishers that reach more than 650,000 dentists in more than 90 countries. AD Declaration on amalgam phase-out inAsia signed The declaration was formulated last November in Dhaka. (Photo OSVSWA, India) 2015AnnualWorldDentalCongress: FDIcallsforabstractsubmissions TheFDIWorldDentalFederation has announced that abstract sub- mission is now open for the next Annual World Dental Congress, which will be held in the Thai capi- tal Bangkok from 22 to 24 Septem- ber. The organisation has invited authors to submit their scientific work in general dentistry and oral health, preventive dentistry, den- tal treatment and restorative den- tistry, and implantology, among other areas of research in den- tistry, by 15 April. Authors can submit abstracts for oral and poster presentations onlineontheofficialwebsiteforthe 2015congress.Abstractsmustbein English, not exceed 250 words, and not have been submitted and ac- cepted at another national or inter- national scientific meeting. Authors of accepted abstracts will have the opportunity to pres- ent their research at the congress as part of the rich and diverse sci- entificprogramme,whichwillalso feature presentations by numer- ousdistinguishedinternationalex- perts. In addition, the FDI will be publishing accepted and pre- sentedabstractsinaspecialonline supplement to the International Dental Journal. The selection of the host coun- try for the 2015 Annual World Den- tal Congress was announced in 2013whenthecongresstookplace in Istanbul in Turkey. It will be the third time in five years that the event is held in an Asian country, after Hong Kong in 2012 and last year’s congress in New Delhi, In- dia. However, it will be the first time that the Dental Association of Thailand will be hosting the an- nual meeting of the FDI. Moreinformationaboutthecon- gressandhowtoparticipatecanbe foundatwww.fdi2015bangkok.org or at booth A06. ©potowizard/Shutterstock.com

today APDC Singapore 2015

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