Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Dental Research
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mahler, D.B.
Right arrow Articles by Fleming, M.A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mahler, D.B.
Right arrow Articles by Fleming, M.A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Hg Emission from Dental Amalgam as Related to the Amount of Sn in the Ag-Hg ({gamma}1) Phase

D.B. Mahler

Oregon Health Sciences University, 611 SW Campus Drive, Portland, Oregon 97201

J.D. Adey

Oregon Health Sciences University, 611 SW Campus Drive, Portland, Oregon 97201

M.A. Fleming

Oregon Health Sciences University, 611 SW Campus Drive, Portland, Oregon 97201

Previous studies have shown that: (1) different dental amalgams emit different amounts of Hg vapor after surface films have been removed by abrasion (Boyer, 1988); (2) Sn oxide may be the predominant factor in these surface films that inhibit Hg vapor loss (Okabe et al., 1989); and (3) Sn in the Ag-Hg ({gamma}1) phase may influence the vapor pressure of {gamma} 1 (Reynolds, 1974). The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between Hg vapor emission and the Sn content of the Ag-Hg ({gamma}1) phase in dental amalgam. Eleven commercial amalgams were selected whose {gamma} 1 phases contain different amounts of Sn. Amalgam specimens were ground on 600-grit carborundum paper and immediately placed into an apparatus designed around a gold film Hg vapor detector. Hg vapor loss in air over a 30-minute period was determined, and the log10 Hg loss/volume fraction {gamma} 1 was plotted vs. the Sn content of the {gamma}1 phase for the 11 test amalgams. A linear regression of these data, showing that of the higher the Sn content in {gamma}1, the lower the Hg vapor loss, produced a highly significant R2 = 0.94 (p < 0.001). To examine for differences in vapor pressure among alloys, we eliminated the oxidation effect by conducting these same tests in an argon atmosphere. Although the Hg loss was significantly greater in argon than in air, the same differences among alloys were observed. Thus, from the standpoint of both vapor pressure and oxidation, the amount of Sn in the {gamma}1 phase of dental amalgam has a significant and specific influence on the potential for Hg vapor emission.

Key Words: Dental Amalgam • Mercury • Tin • Surface Properties • Spectrometry • X-ray Emission

REFERENCES

  • Boyer DB (1988). Mercury vaporization from corroded dental amalgam. Dent Mater 4:89-93.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Boyer DB, Svare CW, Beatty M., Reinhardt JW (1980). Mercury vapor emission of dental amalgam (abstract). IADR Progr & Abst 59:382.
  • Ferracane JL, Hanawa T., Okabe T. (1992). Effectiveness of oxide films in reducing mercury release from amalgams. J Dent Res 71:1151-1155.
  • Gay DD, Cox RD, Reinhardt JW (1979). Chewing releases mercury from fillings. Lancet 1:985-986.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Hanawa T., Matsuda K., Ohta M., Shimokabe H., Ferracane J., Nelson P., et al. (1986). Thermal behavior of amalgams under argon atmosphere (abstract). J Dent Res 65:192.
  • Hanawa T., Takahashi H., Ota M., Pinizzotti RF, Ferracane JL, Okabe T. (1987). Surface characterization of amalgams using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. J Dent Res 66:1470-1478.
  • Jensen SJ (1989). Decrease of {gamma}1 lattice constant with time in dental silver amalgam. Scand J Dent Res 97:465-469.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Mahler DB, Adey JD ( 1979). The influence of final mercury content on the characteristics of a high-copper amalgam. J Biomed Mater Res 13:467-476.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Mahler DB, Adey JD ( 1984). Microprobe analysis of three high-copper amalgams. J Dent Res 63:921-925.
  • Mahler DB, Adey JD ( 1988). Sn in the Ag-Hg phase of dental amalgam. J Dent Res 67:1275-1277.
  • Mahler DB, Adey JD, Marshall SJ (1987). Effect of time at 37°C on the creep and metallurgical characteristics of amalgam. J Dent Res 66:1146-1148.
  • Marek M. (1990). The release of mercury from dental amalgam: the mechanism and in vitro testing.J Dent Res 69:1167-1174.
  • Reynolds CL Jr (1974). Determination of mercury vapor pressure over amalgams from weight loss data. J Biomed Mater Res 8:369-373.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
  • Svare CW, Peterson LC, Reinhardt JW, Boyer DB, Frank CW, Gay DD, et al. (1981). The effect of dental amalgams on mercury levels in expired air. J Dent Res 60:1668-1671.
  • Youdelis WV (1992). Amalgam as a restorative material: is there anything new? J Esthet Dent 4:61-63.[Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 73, No. 10, 1663-1668 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345940730101201
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 JDRHome page
M. Marek
Dissolution of Mercury from Dental Amalgam at Different pH Values
Journal of Dental Research, June 1, 1997; 76(6): 1308 - 1315.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 JDRHome page
H. Nakajima, Y. Akaiwa, H. Hashimoto, J.L. Ferracane, and T. Okabe
Surface Characterization of Amalgam Made with Hg-In Liquid Alloy
Journal of Dental Research, January 1, 1997; 76(1): 610 - 616.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 JDRHome page
J.L. Ferracane, J.D. Adey, H. Nakajima, and T. Okabe
Mercury Vaporization from Amalgams with Varied Alloy Compositions
Journal of Dental Research, July 1, 1995; 74(7): 1414 - 1417.
[Abstract] [PDF]

This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mahler, D.B.
Right arrow Articles by Fleming, M.A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mahler, D.B.
Right arrow Articles by Fleming, M.A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?