116 - Do We Still Do Amalgam Fillings?


We have been using amalgam filling for well over one hundred and fifty years. It is the strongest filling material we have. People with amalgam fillings have less sensitivity then people with composite fillings. In this course we will compare Amalgam fillings to the composite filling material and see the reasons for this. We will also go into the technique of placing a good amalgam and a good composite filling to avoid sensitivity after their placement.


Composites materials have made remarkable improvements in 1990’s and again in the 2000’s Most offices no longer use amalgam for their restoration because of the improvement in strength and application of the composite material.

An amalgam is a composite made up of a liquid - mercury, and particles - silver, tin, etc. The combination makes a hard substance we call amalgam. There are objections to the mercury content and this also led to the popularity of composites.

Amalgam has been tested through time (150 years) as being one of the strongest materials....