It will cost you more to get a dental filling, as Kenya moves to phase down dental amalgam, a cheap and durable teeth filling, because it contains mercury.
Kenya is in the process of becoming a party to the Minamata Convention, a global treaty to phase-out mercury-based products and cessation of manufacture of mercury.
Exposure to mercury can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immune system. It is especially dangerous to babies and young children, affecting their ability to think and learn.
Kenyan medics say there is no proof of any adverse reactions in humans from dental amalgam, and precaution is mandatory when handling it in the dental surgery.
Dental amalgam is the cheapest, most readily available and preferred filling material in low- and middle-income countries, including Kenya.
It is an alloy of a powder comprising silver, tin and copper and mercury.
“Therefore, the phase-down of dental amalgam will have implications on oral health status in Kenya through the unavailability of affordable dental treatment,” say Prof Loice Gathece, University of Nairobi don, and her colleagues in an assessment of the implications to Kenya.
In Kenya, nearly 25 per cent of adults and 50 per cent of children under five years suffer from dental caries, according to the Kenya National Oral Health Survey.
Prof Gathece and her colleagues advise that the government should discourage insurance policies and programmes that favour dental amalgam use over mercury-free dental filling.
“Encouraging insurance policies and programmes that favour the use of quality alternatives to dental amalgam for dental restoration,” they say in a paper, Implications of the Minamata Convention on Mercury on Oral Health in Kenya.
The co-authors are Dr Olivia Osiro, Dr Bernina Kisumbi and Prof David Kariuki.
The alternative tooth fillings include gold, tooth-coloured composite material, porcelain, and a special type of glass.
Prof Judi Wakhungu, former Environment CS, signed the Minamata Convention on Mercury on behalf of Kenya on October 10, 2013, in Kumamoto city, Japan.
The convention came into force globally in August 2017.
This week, the world is celebrating the fourth anniversary of the convention.
Since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force in 2017, 132 parties from around the world have been working together to disrupt the trade, raise public awareness, build institutional capacity, and create mercury-free products.
“An anniversary is always a moment of reflection and inspiration,” said Monika Stankiewicz, the convention’s executive secretary.
“Before its birth, the Minamata Convention was a promise to build a better, healthier world. Four years later, 132 parties and counting are working together tirelessly to keep this promise and make mercury history despite the coronavirus pandemic.”
The Minamata Convention helps countries restrict the use of mercury, adopt non-toxic alternatives to the element, and eliminate mercury pollution, protecting the environment and potentially millions of lives.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya
