Dental Amalgam Essay

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Dental restorations are a form of treatment needed by patients. A restoration is a way dentist can repair a tooth due to decay or fracture. A very common form of restoration is a dental amalgam filling. The restoration can be performed on the surfaces of a tooth as long as it is a class one, class two, class three, and a four and five restoration. Due to their aesthetic appearance the restorations are not recommended and are limited to certain areas in the mouth.
Dental amalgams were first developed in France, but started to get used in the United States in the 1800's. When it was first out in the dental market it was known and used as low-copper amalgams because it was composed of simple elements. The elements in the low copper amalgam where …show more content…

Amalgams restoration could also protect the margin of teeth, preventing leakage of a filling or help prevent recurrent decay when done properly. The process of placing an amalgam was something like this, After the patient has been numbed and tooth has been isolated and the dentist has prepped the tooth cavity, patient is ready to begin his dental amalgam treatment. The process before placing a dental amalgam is called trituration. One must first mix the metal alloy which is in powder form with mercury liquid, both of these elements come in a capsule. This capsule is then being triturated on the amalgamator and takes form of a perfect dough ball, if over triturated it will crumble, or if under triturated it will look …show more content…

Amalgam must never be treated directly with bare hands, some kind of pretection or barrier of hands must be applied. Another, side effect that has also been studied Is the galvanic shock after patient's treatment. This galvanic shock is a shock felt after dental treatment causing sensitivity, the feeling is similar to electricity current between two metals.
Amalgams has caused many controversies in the dental field, making dental providers switch to different materials. Even tho dental amalgams arent as popular as they once were there are many patients that still have dental amalgams as restorations in their mouths that look great. They are still placed by many dentist but the decision is totally up to the patient to decided if they perferr that

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