Dental Materials

(Dental Amalgam 1)
Lecture 9
5 pages

Dr. Siham Sayes

‫قسن طب األسنان‬
‫المرحلة الثانية‬

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 Dental Amalgam
1. Introduction
Dental amalgam consists of mercury combined with a powdered silver–tin
alloy. Mercury is a liquid at room temperature and is able to form a
„workable‟ mass when mixed with the alloy.
The reaction between mercury and alloy, which follows mixing, is termed an
amalgamation reaction. It results in the formation of a hard restorative
material of silvery-grey appearance.

Applications
Dental amalgam has been the main restorative filling material for dentistry
(since about 1830).
Amalgams are used in posterior teeth, because of its gray color.
Definition
An “amalgam” means any material containing mercury (Hg) as a major
element in the composition.
An alloy is a mixture of two or more metals.
Dental amalgam is a mixture of a silver alloy with mercury (Hg).
Dental Silver alloy is a fine powder that is composed mostly of silver (Ag),
tin (Sn), and copper (cu).
It is supplied as:
1-bulk powder (silver alloy) and liquid (mercury)
2- Alloy and mercury in disposable hard plastic capsule. This new method
gave stronger amalgams and reduced the exposure of the dental staff to
mercury.

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Today almost all practitioners use precapsulated mercury and alloy powder.
Precapsulation reduces the risk that mercury vapor will contaminate the
dental operatory because the mercury is purchased sealed in the capsules.
Composition
Mercury is the only metallic element that is a liquid at room temperature,
and this property facilitates mixing with the alloy particles.
It reacts readily with metals such as silver, tin and copper, to produce solid
materials.
Mercury (Hg) is a dense metal (density = 13.5g/ml), and odorless.
There is a high vapor pressure of Hg, which is invisible (colorless gas), and
Hg is penetrating liquid.
The silver alloys are divided into two gropes:
I- low-copper amalgam alloys (conventional amalgam) contain:
- 65 wt. % silver
- 29 wt. % tin
- 2 to 4 wt. % copper.
II- high-copper amalgam alloys contain:
- 40-60 wt. % silver (Ag)
- 27-30 wt. % tin (Sn)
-13 - 30 wt. % copper (Cu)
Setting reactions
The reaction of silver alloy with mercury is called amalgamation.

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Low Copper Alloy
When alloy powder and mercury are mixed, the silver and tin in the outer
portion of the particles dissolve into the mercury. At the same time, mercury
diffuses into the alloy particles and starts reacting with the silver and tin
present in it, forming silver-mercury and tin-mercury compounds.
The amalgamation reaction of low copper alloy can be summarized by the
following equation:
Ag3Sn + Hg Ag3Sn + Ag2Hg3 + Sn7Hg
Y + mercury Y + Y1 + Y2
Powder liquid unreacted amalgam matrix
alloy

The simplify writing this reaction; each of components of the reaction has a
special name.
I. The silver alloy (unreacted alloy) is called gamma ( ),
II. the silver- mercury is gamma -1 (ᵧ1),
III. and the tin- mercury gamma-2 (ᵧ2).
In simplified terms, the reaction for conventional amalgam alloys may be
given by the following unbalanced equation:
Ag3Sn + Hg → Ag2Hg3 + Sn x Hg + Ag3Sn
Or γ + Hg → γ1 + γ2 + γ
Set amalgam consists of unreacted particles (γ) surrounded by a matrix of
the reaction products (γ1 and γ2).
The alloy particles do not react completely with mercury .About 27% of the
original Ag3Sn remains as unreacted particles. The presence of the original
particles is important to the strength and corrosion resistance of the
amalgam.
The properties of the hardened amalgam depends on the proportion of each
of the reaction phases. If more Ag3Sn (γ phase) is present, the stronger the
amalgam. The γ2 phase is the weakest component and is least stable to
corrosion process.

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High-copper amalgam
The current high-copper amalgam have eliminated the γ2 product, which has
increased the resistance of this amalgam to corrosion and marginal
breakdown of the amalgam in the mouth.
The mercury dissolved in the silver-tin particles will react like low copper
alloys and will form the γ1 and γ2 phases, leaving some silver-tin particles
unreacted.
In a relatively short time, the newly formed γ2 phase (Sn7Hg) will react with
silver-copper particles forming copper-tin phase.
This phase can exist as Cu-Sn (ε ) or Cu3Sn (eta η).
γ2 has been eliminated and is replaced eta phase. Thus, the final amalgam
contains little or no Y2. It is necessary to have a net copper content of at
least 13 percent in the alloy powder.
For high- copper alloys the reaction may be represented by:
Ag3Sn + Cu + Hg → Ag2Hg3 + Cu6Sn5 + Ag3Sn
Or γ + Cu + Hg → γ1 + Cu6Sn5 + γ
Final set high-copper amalgam consists of core (unreacted silver-tin particles
(γ) and unreacted silver-copper particles surrounded by a copper-tin (η)),
and the matrix of silver-mercury (γ1).

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‫ سهام سايس‬.‫أد‬