Mercury Free Dentistry Seminar & Curriculum Update Workshop, July 24th 2019, Abuja, Nigeria
This session (preconference seminar and curriculum update workshop) was chaired by the Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria Dr. T.A.B. Sanusi. The Seminar/workshop was organized in partnership with the World Alliance for Mercury Free Dentistry, SHRAdeV, Association of Nigerian Dental School Deans and the Nigerian Dental Association. The morning session (Mercury Free Dentistry Seminar) was for both General Dental Practitioners (GDPs) and lecturers in faculties of Dentistry. For GDPs it serves as an introduction to Minimum Intervention Dentistry (MID). For lecturers of Faculties of Dentistry it served as both an introduction to MID and a foundation for the curriculum update workshop in the afternoon session.
International facilitator, Prof. Jo E. Frencken, the inventor of Atraumatic Restorative Dentistry (ART) from Netherlands, Europe presented two seminars: The use of glass hybrid materials for restorations and Integrating Minimum Intervention Dentistry in Dental Curriculum. Both presentations generated interesting questions from the participants.
Prof Jo Frencken advised that Nigeria should first ensure the wide availability of mercury free restorative materials before the restriction of the use of Dental Amalgam in vulnerable groups by January 2020.
In his presentation on “Phase down of dental amalgam: The Training of 21st century Dentistsâ€, Coordinator, Mercury free dentistry in Nigeria, Prof. Godwin Arotiba said there is no more scientific backing for the continued use of dental amalgam as a tooth filling material in the 21st century. He emphasized that ‘Mercury Dental Amalgam’ belonged to the 19th and 20th century Dentistry and has no place in 21st century dentistry.â€
Prof. Arotiba highlighted the definitions, principles and clinical strategies of Minimum Intervention Dentistry (MID) and informed the gathering that MID is focused on early caries diagnosis, caries risk and activity assessments/classifications, targeted preventive treatments based on CRA classification, frequent recall visits to evaluate compliance with counselling, caries control and oral health outcome, minimally invasive restorations and repair rather than replacement of defective restorations. He submitted that the goal of MID is to keep oral tissues healthy and functional for life. In addition, he pointed out that MID has applications in periodontology, oral surgery and oral rehabilitation and that all branches of dentistry will soon embrace it.
In his presentation on “Dental Amalgam phase-down: The imperative of curriculum review and update in dental schools in Nigeria†Dr. Adolphus Loto said curriculum update is a necessity in the ever-changing world owing emerging new knowledge and techniques through research and technological development/advances. Dr. Loto, who urged dental practitioners to embrace change, stressed that curriculum update will involve update of courses at almost every level of a typical 6 years Bachelor of Dental Surgery programme.
Other presentations include Curriculum development, review, update and evaluation by Dr. O.A Loto; The European Core Cariology curriculum by Prof. M.A Sede; The Association of Nigerian Dental School Deans (ANDD) Cariology curriculum by Prof. M. Ukpong;
Prof G T Arotiba also presented a modified color-coded GC Corporation Minimum Intervention Treatment Plan (MITP) framework for implementing MID in General Dental Practice and in Dental Education. This modified MITP framework was adapted for student’s clinical assessment in MID (see Fig. X)
Fig. X: The Modified color-coded GC Corp. MITP framework
Godwin Toyin Arotiba Seminar / Workshop Director & Coordinator of Mercury Free Dentistry in Nigeria.
Presented on 8th July, 2019 Abuja, Nigeria.
Goodwill Message from Attorney Charlie Brown,
President, World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry
To Professor Arotiba, Professor Frencken, the Deans and Professors of the Colleges of Dentistry, the Dentists of Nigeria, Government Officials federal and state, NGO leaders Adogame, Bally, and Aneni, and all other stakeholders:
Congratulations for your work to implement the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
Congratulations for the far-sighted decision to end amalgam use for children under 15 and for pregnant and breastfeeding women as of 1 January 2020, in less than six months! You are saving an entire generation of Nigerians from exposure to toxic mercury. Arise, O Compatriots!
Nigeria is the leader for Africa – what you do will affect the entire continent. It is the reason I have been to your great nation for each of the past three years, four times in all, to work for mercury-free dentistry.
We attribute the enormous progress at the federal level to the excellent quality of men and women at the environmental and health ministries, especially my friends Dr. B.O. Alonge, Chief Dental Officer of Nigeria and Director Charles Ikeah, Pollution Control and Environmental Health, Federal Ministry of Environment, who leads your government’s delegation at the Minamata Convention negotiations.
The World Alliance for Mercury-Free Dentistry is proud to work with the esteemed Professor and former Dean Godwin Aritoba, and we salute his leadership to bring 21st century dentistry to Nigeria. I am pleased that you are joined by Professor Jo Francken, whose well-known work as a pioneer of A.R.T. I have been reading about for at least a decade.
Progress toward mercury-free dentistry is succeeding in Nigeria, Africa’s colossus state, because of the work of our excellent NGO team, led by Leslie Adogame in Lagos and including Tom Aneni in Benin and Joy Eziallor in Enugu. I am most pleased that Monsieur Dominique, the founder of the African Center for Environmental Health and the vice president for Africa of the World Alliance, came over to Abuju from Abidjan to speak.
The World Alliance works at the federal level for mercury-free dentistry, plus has “model state†campaigns in Edo State and Lagos State. Having done a regional conference in the South-South Region in 2017, later this year we will a regional conference in Enugu for the South East Region.
My warmest wishes to the people of Nigeria and to today’s visitors to Nigeria:
Charlie Brown
23 July 2019