Fillings Photo courtesy Eating is one of those things that everyone just loves to do. However, sometimes we get a little overzealous with certain foods which were designed to be good, and we forget to take proper care of some of the most important structures we have for eating, our teeth! There has been some concern lately about the common method used for filling those painful holes in teeth. Since 1832, the dental community in the United States has been using dental amalgams to fill teeth. These amalgams are a collection of various metals consisting of: 50% Hg Mercury 20% Ag (min) Silver 15% Cu (max) Copper 15% Sn (max) Tin all % are by weight Recently, there has been an outbreak of patients complaining of a condition known as oral galvanism, which results from a breakdown of the metal components in the amalgams. Photo courtesy One solution to this problem has been to develop new materials with which to fill the cavities. Over the last ten years, new ceramics have been developed which can meet the needs of fillings. The conditions inside the mouth place enormous chemical and physical demands on any materials placed in there. Just to give an example, some of the characteristics that these materials must meet are: Chemical Inertness to the acids in the mouth Low Thermal Conductivity, for when you are eating ice cream Resistant to Wear from years of chewing hard foods Resistant to Thermal Expansion and Contraction and of course and Esthetic Similarity to the current tooth Site related questions or comments? Contact crc@tms.org