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Dental amalgam: the history and legacy you perhaps never knew?

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Abstract

Much has been written about dental amalgam. Over many years, it has served the profession well, yet on environmental grounds its use is being phased down. This article seeks to explore key milestones in the history and development of this versatile material, as well as highlighting how international standards have assisted in reducing environmental mercury contamination.

Key points

  • Gains insight into the historic science of dental amalgam and its high pedigree.

  • Understands how science and standards have influenced product development.

  • Appreciates how the amalgam legacy has been impacted by standards.

  • Gains an understanding of the amalgam environmental legacy and its mitigation being legislation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are most grateful to Scott McGregor, Assistant Librarian, University of Dundee for sourcing copies of the many references to older papers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Operative Dentistry and Dental Materials Science, The Dental School, Dundee, UK

    R. Graham Chadwick

  2. Convenor, ISO Technical Committee 106, Subcommittee 1, Working Group 7, Dental Amalgam, International Organisation for Standardisation, Switzerland; Formerly Reader in Dental Material Science, The Dental School, Dundee, UK

    Charles H. Lloyd

Authors
  1. R. Graham Chadwick
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  2. Charles H. Lloyd
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Contributions

R. Graham Chadwick and Charles H. Lloyd both, in equal proportion, contributed to all aspects of the article.

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Correspondence to R. Graham Chadwick.

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The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Chadwick, R., Lloyd, C. Dental amalgam: the history and legacy you perhaps never knew?. Br Dent J 232, 633–637 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41415-022-4204-z

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