History of Dental Amalgam

Humankind always has been plagued by the problem of restoring parts of the body lost as a result of accident or disease. Practitioners of dentistry have been confronted with this problem since the beginning of the dental practice, and the means of replacing missing tooth structure by artificial materials contains to account for a large part of dental science. During the period from 1600 to 1840, the foundations for the science of dentistry were established. In 1819 in England dental amalgam was first known as BELL’S PUTTY. M. Traveau is credited with advocating the first form of dental amalgam-silver-mercury paste in 1826, in Paris France. It was presented by Crawcour brothers to the dental profession in America in 1833 as “Royal Mineral Succedaneum” as substitute for gold.

The ensuing chaos in organized dentistry of that time is known historically as the “Amalgam War”. E.Parnly stated that dental amalgam was “ Wholly inapplicable and UNFIT for use in the MOUTH”.

The Crawcour brothers introduced “Silver paste”, the amalgam of silver with mercury in the U.S as a filing material in 1883. The first National Dental Society, the American Society of Dental Surgeons was established in 1840. One of the early actions of the American Society of Dental Surgeons was to forbid its members to use Silver amalgam for restoring lost tooth structure. About the time of this, “war” copper amalgam was introduced in 1844.

A silver-tin-mercury alloy, or amalgam was introduced in 1855 by Elisha Townsend, followed by another formula by J.F.Flogg., Dr.J.Foster Flagg and Dr.G.V.Black studied amalgam, and the research of Black led to the development of the formula in 1896 that has been closely adhered to until recent years.

Dr.G.V.Black’s formula in 1896:

68.50% - silver
25.50% - tin
5% - gold
1% - zinc

Since amalgam is the most widely used single restorative material in dentistry, its overwhelming importance cannot be ignored. It is relatively easy to use, a fact that perhaps invited its use in many unwarranted circumstances and widespread abuse. There is still no adequate, economic alternative for dental amalgam as a restorative material for moderately sired carious lesion in a high-load-bearing area. The combination of reliable long-term performance in load-bearing situations and small cost per unit is unmatched by any other dental restorative material.

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