Amalgam since 2025

In detail

The ban

The EU Mercury Regulation applies directly; it doesn't need to be transposed into Austrian law first. Regulation (EU) 2024/1849 inserted a new paragraph 2a into its Art. 10: from 1 January 2025, dental amalgam shall not be used for dental treatment in the Union, except when deemed strictly necessary by the dental practitioner based on the specific medical needs of the patient (Art. 10(2a), first subparagraph, Regulation (EU) 2017/852).

An exception until 30 June 2026 applied only in member states where amalgam was the only material publicly reimbursed at a rate of at least 90% for patients not eligible for other reimbursed filling materials, and where people on low incomes were socioeconomically disproportionately affected by the 1 January 2025 phase-out date; those states had to notify their reasons to the Commission by 31 August 2024 (Art. 10(2a), second subparagraph). It has expired. Since 1 January 2025 the export of dental amalgam has been banned, and since 1 July 2026 its import and manufacture too, except for those specific medical needs (Art. 10(7)).

What still applies

• Since 1 January 2019 amalgam may only be used in pre-dosed encapsulated form; mercury in bulk form is banned (Art. 10(1)).
• Practices where amalgam is used or where amalgam fillings or teeth containing them are removed must have amalgam separators that retain at least 95% of amalgam particles. They must be maintained as the manufacturer says (Art. 10(4)).
• Capsules and separators meeting European standards are presumed to comply (Art. 10(5)).
• Amalgam waste, including residues, particles, fillings and teeth contaminated by it, is handled and collected by an authorised waste firm and must never be released into the environment, directly or indirectly (Art. 10(6)).

So the separator duty remains even when a practice no longer places amalgam, as long as it removes old fillings. In Austria the waste falls under SN 35326 gn and goes to a licensed waste company (lesson 3.5).

When amalgam is needed as an exception

Record the medical reasons in the patient's file § 19(1) ZÄG and inform the patient about the alternatives § 18(1) no. 4 ZÄG. The Irish Dental Council likewise requires its dentists to record the clinical reasons and obtain explicit consent, and notes that functioning amalgam fillings don't have to be replaced (Dental Council, Code of Practice, January 2025).

A note on the source: this follows the text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1849 in the Official Journal of the EU of 10 July 2024; the authoritative text is the one in EUR-Lex, linked below. The Irish Code of Practice gives 1 January 2026 for the import and manufacturing ban; the regulation says 1 July 2026.