Dentsply Sirona quietly stopped its amalgam sales, as announced last year.  Now the other major U.S. amalgam manufacturer, Kerr (currently a subsidiary of Envista Holdings Corporation and previously a subsidiary of Danaher), has announced that it has “…ceased manufacturing all Alloy products, including all of our amalgam products that may contain mercury.” Kerr goes on to explain that….
 
“Specifically, we ceased manufacturing these products in the third quarter of 2021 and communicated this decision to our customers in November of 2021. As part of this communication, we cancelled many of our customers outstanding orders for amalgams containing mercury and directed our customers to our other materials that do not contain mercury. We also engaged in a vigorous campaign to assist our customers in swapping their amalgam products containing mercury to materials that do not contain mercury.”
 

In the clearest sign yet that amalgam is headed to the dustbins of history, Dentsply Sirona – the world’s largest manufacturer of dental products – has exited the amalgam market.  In its annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, this industry behemoth quietly noted: “[W]e have discontinued sales for all amalgam products as of December 2020.”

The coup de grâce for Dentsply appears to have been U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recommendation against amalgam use in high-risk populations.  As Dentsply explained: