Uruguay has officially prohibited the use of dental amalgam through Ordenanza N° 285/026, marking a major milestone in reducing mercury exposure. The Minister of Public Health, Cristina Lustemberg, followed through on her commitment—introducing the ban just 2 weeks after the WHO regional workshop on the gradual reduction of dental amalgam held in Montevideo.
In 2018, Uruguay removed dental amalgam from the oral health services covered by the country’s Comprehensive Health Care Plan, and there have been no imports of dental amalgam since 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), together with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), convened a meeting in Montevideo on 4 and 5 March 2026. Similar meetings will follow in Bangkok and Dakar later this year to conclude this global pilot project addressing dental amalgam.
Uruguay is now the second country in Latin America (after Panama) and the 16th globally to prohibit dental amalgam without exceptions. Further 54 countries have banned it with limited exceptions, have withdrawn dental amalgam from public programs, effectively phasing it out, stopped the import or declared to no longer use it.
Further Information:
👉 https://www.gub.uy/ministerio-salud-publica/institucional/normativa/ordenanza-n-285026-prohibicion-del-uso-amalgamas-dentales
👉 https://www.gub.uy/presidencia/comunicacion/noticias/uruguay-prohibira-amalgamas-dentales-impacto-mercurio-salud-ambiente