Amalgam

: This article is about alloys. For the comic book series, see Amalgam Comics.

Dentistry

For centuries dentists have been cleaning out decay and creating dental fillings, using filling material such as stone chips, resin, cork, turpentine, gum, lead and gold leaf. The renowned physician Ambroise Paré (1510 – 1590) used lead or cork to fill teeth. Amalgams were the first true standard filling material.

Related Topics:
Dentist - Dental fillings - Resin - Cork - Turpentine - Gum - Lead - Gold - Ambroise Paré

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Mercury amalgams were used in dentistry because they were cheap, easy to use, durable, and had been regarded as safe. They were made by mixing approximately equal measures of mercury and an alloy of silver, copper, tin and other metals.

Related Topics:
Mercury - Alloy - Silver - Copper - Tin

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The first people to use amalgams to fill cavities appear to be the French. In 1816 Auguste Taveau developed first dental amalgam from silver coins and mercury. This early amalgam was low in mercury and had to be heated in order for the silver to dissolve at any appreciable rate. More modern dental amalgams are mixed cold. Current dental amalgams contain copper to eliminate the gamma-2 phase of the silver-mercury-tin alloy. The gamma 2 phase is weaker than the other phases so a high copper, low gamma-2 dental amalgam has superior strength.

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Today, amalgam fillings have been largely replaced by cosmetically superior composite resin fillings.

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