Increased Mercury Emissions From Modern Dental Amalgams

Increased Mercury Emissions From Modern Dental Amalgams

Write a short note on the amalgamation reaction of low copper alloy.
Answer:

• Low-copper alloy is a type of silver amalgam alloy.
• Low-copper alloy contains less than 6% of copper.

Mercury Emissions From Modern Dental Amalgam

Amalgamation (Setting Reaction):

• When alloy powder and mercury are triturated, the silver and tin in the outer portion of the particle dissolve into the mercury.

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Modern Amalgam Mercury Release

• At the same time, mercury diffuses into the alloy particles and starts reacting with the silver and tin present in it, forming silver-mercury and tin-mercury compounds.
• Silver-tin compound is known as the gamma phase (γ).
• The silver-mercury compound is known as the gamma one (γ₁) phase and the tin-mercury as the gamma two (γ₂) phase.

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A simple reaction is:

Ag₃Sn + Hg →  Ag₂ Hg₃ +  Sn₈Hg  + Ag₃Sn unreacted

(γ)                               (γ₁)      (γ₂)                 (γ)

The alloy particles do not react completely with mercury. About 27% of the original Ag₃Sn remains as unreacted particles.

Dental Amalgam And Environmental Mercury Pollution

Microstructure:

Set amalgam consists of unreacted core particles, i.e. γ surrounded by a matrix of the reaction products γ₁  and  γ₂

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