Dental Amalgam:

Material Properties and its

Use in Clinical Dentistry

J. Rodway Mackert, Jr., DMD, PhD

Medical College of Georgia
Augusta, Georgia
 What is Amalgam?
a·mal·gam: any alloy of mercury with another
metal or other metals [silver amalgam is used
as a dental filling]†

Source: Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American

†

Language, Guralnik DB, Ed., New York: World Publishing

Co., 1972.
 Types of Dental Amalgam
• Copper amalgam (no longer used)
• Conventional (low-copper) amalgam:
formulation standardized in 1890’s
• High copper amalgam: first developed in
the 1960’s
 Alloy Powder Composition
Type Ag Sn Cu Zn Other
Low copper 63-72 26-28 2-7 0-2 —
High-Cu admixed
40-70 26-30 12-30 0-2 —
lathe-cut
High-Cu admixed
40-65 0-30 20-40 0 0-1 Pd
spherical
High-Cu unicomp- 0-5 In,
40-60 22-30 13-30 0
ositional spherical 0-1 Pd
compositions in weight percent
Alloy Powder: Dispersalloy®
Silver
69%

Zinc
1% Copper Tin
12% 18%

Mixing proportions: 50% alloy, 50% mercury

 Alloy Powder: Tytin®
Silver
59%

Tin
Zinc 13%
0%
Copper
28%

Mixing proportions: 57.5% alloy, 42.5% mercury

 Amalgam Capsules
• Contain (in separate
compartments):
– powdered amalgam
alloy
– liquid mercury
• Some are manually
activated, others self-
activated
• Pestle usually included
 Amalgamator (Triturator)
• Speeds vary upward
from 3000 rpm
• Times vary from 5–20
seconds
• Mix powder and liquid
components to achieve
a pliable mass
• Reaction begins after
components are mixed
 W e ig h t P e r c e n t
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

1070
1 0 6 4 .4 °
Silver-Gold Phase Diagram
1060

1050
L
1040

1030
T e m p e ra tu r e ( ° C )

1020

1010

1000

990

980

970

960 9 6 1 .9 3 °

950
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Ag A to m ic P e r c e n t Au
 W e ig h t P e r c e n t
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1000
9 6 1 .9 3 °

900
Silver-Tin Phase Diagram

800
724°
700 L
T e m p e ra tu r e ( ° C )

600

500 (A g ) 480°


400

300 2 3 1 .9 6 8 °
221°
200 9 6 .2
-S n
100

13°  -S n
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Ag A to m ic P e r c e n t Sn
 W e ig h t P e r c e n t
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
1000
Silver-Mercury Phase Diagram
9 6 1 .9 3 °

900
L
800

700

600
T e m p e ra tu r e ( ° C )

500

400
(A g )
300 4 4 .8 276°
3 7 .3 96
200
 5 6 .8 127° 9 9 .3
100

0
9 9 .7
 -H g
-1 0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Ag A to m ic P e r c e n t Hg
Reaction: Low-Copper Alloys

Ag3Sn() + Hg 
Ag2Hg3(1) + Sn7-8Hg(2) + Ag3Sn()
 Reaction: High-Copper Alloys

Ag3Sn() + Ag-Cu + Hg 
Ag2Hg3(1) + Sn7-8Hg(2) + Ag3Sn() + Ag-Cu
and
Sn7-8Hg(2) + Ag-Cu 
Cu6Sn5() + Ag2Hg3(1)
 Composition of Set Amalgam
• Matrix of 1 (Ag2Hg3) and  (Cu6Sn5)
phases, with embedded particles of
unreacted  (Ag3Sn) and Ag-Cu phases
• Not a “solid emulsion” (“...it is not correct
to refer to an aggregate of intermetallic
compounds, all of which are solid at room
temperature, as a solid emulsion.” —
Laurier Schramm, author of Dictionary of
Colloid and Interface Science.)
 Properties of Mercury
• Only liquid metal at room temperature
• Evaporation rate
– Theoretical maximum is 57.9 µg·cm2·s–1 from
pristine, oxide-free surface into a vacuum (=
57,900 ng·cm2·s–1)
– Measured rate in vacuum is ~40 µg·cm2·s–1 (=
~40,000 ng·cm2·s–1)
– Oxidation of Hg lowers rate by factor of 1000
Université Laval 3.7-m LMT
 M e r c u r y v a p o r c o n c e n tr a tio n a s fu n c tio n o f tim e

0 .2 0
H g v a p o r c o n c e n tr a tio n ( m g /m ³ )

0 .1 6

0 .1 2 0 .9 m m
2 m m
4 m m
0 .0 8

0 .0 4

0
0 5 10 15 20 25

Courtesy of E.F. Borra, Université Laval

T im e ( h o u r s )
 Hg Evaporation from Amalgam
• Baseline Hg vaporization rate (unstimulated)
from amalgam in humans is 0.027 ng·cm2·s–1
• Average vaporization rate (over 24-h period)
in humans is 0.048 ng·cm2·s–1
• The evaporation rate of Hg from amalgam is
800–1500 times lower than from oxidized
mercury
 Mercury Dose from Amalgam
• Person with average number of fillings (7)
would absorb ~1.6 µg/day
• Person with a moderately high number of
fillings (13) would absorb ~3 µg/day
• According to EPA, absorbed dose of
mercury from food, water, and air is
5.7 µg/day
Jerome Mercury Vapor Analyzer
• Used by many anti-
amalgam dentists to
measure intra-oral
mercury vapor
• Differences in
sampling volumes and
flow rates must be
taken into account, or
gross errors will result
 R o o m A ir : J e r o m e In s tr u m e n t

3 2 µ g /m ³
250 m L

0 µ g /m ³

0 sec
 R o o m A ir : J e r o m e In s tr u m e n t

3 2 µ g /m ³
250 m L

3 2 µ g /m ³

20 sec
R o o m A ir : H u m a n R e s p ir a tio n

0 sec 3 2 µ g /m ³

500 m L

0 µ g /m ³
R o o m A ir : H u m a n R e s p ir a tio n

2½ sec 3 2 µ g /m ³

500 m L

3 2 µ g /m ³
 In tr a - O r a l A ir
J e r o m e In s tr u m e n t v s . H u m a n R e s p ir a tio n

250 m L
J e ro m e
In s tr u m e n t
(2 0 s e c )

0 sec 2½ sec 5 sec 7½ sec 10 sec 12½ sec 15 sec 17½ sec 20 sec

500 m L
H um an
R e s p ir a tio n
(2 ½ s e c )
1 ng Hg
 In tr a - O r a l A ir
J e r o m e In s tr u m e n t v s . H u m a n R e s p ir a tio n
250 m L
J e ro m e 8 ng
In s tr u m e n t = 3 2 µ g /m ³
(2 0 s e c ) 250 m L

500 m L
H um an 1 ng
R e s p ir a tio n = 2 µ g /m ³
(2 ½ s e c ) 500 m L

1 ng Hg