What is dental amalgam?

Dental amalgam, or what it is called silver filling, is a material that has been used to restore teeth with cavities and as a build up material before restoring teeth with crowns. Dental amalgam is a mixture of mercury, alloy of silver, tin and copper.

Is the mercury in dental amalgam danger to the health?

The release of mercury in dental amalgam is so small that it is much less than what you are exposed to in food, air and water. Also, dental amalgam has been used as a filling material for more than a hundred years with no reported side effects or medical cases of harm from the mercury in the dental filling.

What is the alternative to dental amalgam?

Many materials have been and can be used to restore teeth: gold, porcelain inlay and composite bonding resins. These materials are more costly than dental amalgam, with the exception of gold, are not as durable as the dental amalgam. However, the materials are more preferable for the cosmetic look it provides.