Silver fillings (dental amalgam) Dental amalgam (‘silver filling’) is an inexpensive and highly durable material commonly used for filling teeth. Modern dental amalgam is a metal alloy that is generally made up of mercury, silver and tin, with small amounts of copper and zinc.
To mimic the natural dentin in the teeth, today’s dental composite resins are common in non-amalgam fillings. These composites are made of a plastic resin and silica filler. Bonding. Metallic cavity fillings or amalgams could not bond with the tooth; they merely rested on it and provided a degree of protection.