Dental amalgam is a dental filling material used to fill cavities caused by tooth decay. With its history of usage over 150 years in dentistry, dental amalgam has many advantages over other dental filling materials. It has greater longevity, strength, durability, and bacteriostatic effects as well as low cost. If restored with proper technique most amalgam restorations last for 10 to 12 years. Dental amalgam fillings are also known as “silver fillings” because of their silver-like appearance.  Despite the name, “silver fillings” do contain elemental mercury.

Amalgam filling is a mixture of alloy metals (composed of silver, tin, and copper) and 50% mercury (elemental) liquid.

How An Amalgam Filling Is Placed

Your dentist will remove the decay from the teeth by drilling. Then powered alloy is mixed with elemental mercury to form an amalgam like consistency (done under safe conditions). This softened amalgam putty is placed and shaped in the prepared cavity, where it rapidly hardens into a solid filling.

Benefits & Potential Risks

Dental amalgam fillings are less likely to break and are strong and long-lasting, as well as low cost material.

Potential Risks:

As dental amalgam contains elemental mercury, it releases low levels of mercury in the form of a vapor. This can be inhaled and may be absorbed by the lungs. If the mercury vapor exposure are high, it may produce adverse effects in the brain and the kidneys.

However, as per Canadian Dental Association-“Current scientific evidence on the use of dental amalgam supports that amalgam is an effective and safe filling material that provides a long-lasting solution for a broad range of clinical situations. Dental amalgam delivers benefits over other filling materials with respect to ease of use and longevity, especially in patients with a high risk of tooth decay”.

Bioaccumulation

Bioaccumulation refers to the build-up or steadily increasing concentration of a chemical in organs or tissues in the body. Studies of healthy subjects with amalgam fillings have shown that mercury from exposure to mercury vapor bioaccumulates in certain tissues of the body including kidneys and brain. Studies have not shown that bioaccumulation of mercury from dental amalgam results in damage to target