This National Guideline has been developed as part of the project “Accelerate implementation of dental amalgam provisions and strengthen country capacities in the environmental sound management of associated wastes under the Minamata Convention on Mercury”. A project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and executed by the World Health Organization (WHO) with targeted technical assistance by the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership. Early childhood caries (ECC) remains one of Thailand’s most prevalent public-health problems. These conditions negatively affect children’s speech, mastication, nutrition, and overall development, imposing burdens on families and the health-care system. Following Thailand’s ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury 2017, the country committed to phasing down dental amalgam and therefore emphasized disease prevention over restorative treatment. Evidence-based, systematic national guidance was thus needed to integrate oral-health promotion into child health services and ensure consistent, safe, and mercury-free management of ECC across all settings.
The overall goal of the UNEP Global Mercury Partnership is to protect human health and the environment from the releases of mercury.