From 1st July, UK law will come into effect stipulating dentists should not be placing amaglam in under 15's, deciduous teeth or pregnant/ breastfeeding women except when stictly necessary. Furthermore from July 2019 the UK must put forwards it plan in phasing out amalgam.
Although some EU countries support a blanket ban on amalgam is this something England is ready for? With many primary care dentists working under NHS contracts, and a current UDA system, is this really practical?
With no news of when contract reform will be implemented, or even what it will look like, are dentists being put under even more pressure to provide more costly, lengthy restorative alternatives under the same target driven contracts?
Or is this a change that should be welcomed and embraced by the dental community ?
What are your views?
For me, I think the whole concept of 'phasing out,' has long been underway, primarily from a patient preference point of view!
Really interested to see what happens regarding contract reform and completely agree about composite and glass ionomer restorations being more time-consuming. Do you think there will a rise in fixed restoration provision also?
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