TABLE OF CONTENTS Amalgam seems first to have been first used for the restoration of teeth in the early part of the 19th century in Europe. It was just one type of metallic restoration: others included hammered gold leaf or lead, the latter placed while molten. Right from the start, the use of amalgam was controversial. Mercury was known to be toxic and the technique of inserting amalgam seemed crude compared with the meticulous approach needed to place gold foil. Consequently the use of amalgam was considered unethical. In America, the dispute between those dentists who would use amalgam and those who would not became extremely polemical, leading to the so-called amalgam wars. In fact, there was an early professional body, the American Society of Dental Surgeons, whose express purpose was to unite ethical dentists ( i.e. those refusing to use amalgam) against the unethical ones. Later, many individuals were involved in helping to formulate safe and reliable amalgams for dental fillings.187 One of the most notable was G.V.Black, whose Manual of Operative Dentistry published in 1896 established the mechanical principles for sound cavity design for use with these more satisfactory amalgams. Finally, in 1929, the American Dental Association adopted a specification for dental amalgam, which included the requirement that the material be tested under defined conditions. This was an important step in eliminating unsatisfactory products from the market.
To prepare dental amalgams, a powdered alloy consisting mainly of silver and tin is mixed with liquid mercury.
