An amalgam is an alloy of mercury. Most metals are soluble in mercury, but some (such as iron) are not. Amalgams are commonly used in dental fillings.

Amalgam in Dentistry

For centuries dentists have been cleaning out decay and filling cavities, using filling material such as stone chips, resin, cork, turpentine, gum, lead and gold leaf. The renowned physician Ambroise Pare (1510-1590) used lead or cork to fill teeth. Amalgams were the first true standard filling material.

Mercury amalgams are used in dentistry because they are cheap, easy to use, durable, and were widely regarded as safe. They are made by mixing approximately equal measures of mercury and an alloy of silver, copper, tin and other metals.

The first people to use amalgams to fill cavities appear to be the French. In 1816 Auguste Taveau developed first dental amalgam from silver coins and mercury. This early amalgam was low in mercury and had to be heated in order for the silver to dissolve at any appreciable rate. Modern dental amalgams are mixed cold.

Mining

Mercury amalgams have been used in the gold and silver mining process due to the ease with which mercury will amalgamate with them.

After all the usable metal had been extracted from the ore, mercury was poured down a long copper trough which formed a thin coating of mercury on the surface. The waste ore was then poured down the trough, and any gold in the waste amalgamated with the mercury. This coating was occasionally scraped off and distilled to remove the mercury, leaving behind fairly high purity gold.

The Spanish Empire transported mercury from Almadén across the Atlantic to supply the silver mines of Zacatecas and Potosí.

See also

• Dental amalgam controversy
• Sodium amalgam

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