Dear Dr. Reitz: My dentist claims amalgam fillings are stronger and better than the new white fillings. When was amalgam first used to fill teeth, and do you think it will be around in the future? – ...

Dental amalgam is a mixture of metals. About half of its weight is made up of a powdered alloy of silver, tin, and copper, with the other 50 percent being elemental mercury. Sometimes small amounts of ...

Mercury-containing dental amalgam fillings had no adverse health effects in children after five and seven years, according to the first randomized safety trials on the subject. Scientists supported by ...

It has been more than a year since the Food and Drug Administration asked dentists to stop using amalgam—the familiar silver-colored material used to fill cavities—in children and other “high risk” ...