Amalgam is a traditional metal filling material dentists have used for a long time.

In kid words

Amalgam is the silver-colored filling material some grown-ups have in their teeth. Long ago, when a tooth had a cavity, a dentist would clean out the soft part and fill the little space with amalgam so the tooth could chew and smile like normal again. It is just one of the materials dentists have used to fill teeth over the years.

The parent version

Amalgam is a traditional metal filling material dentists have used for a long time. It is made by combining mercury with other metals, such as silver, tin and copper, into a mixture that hardens into a strong, silver-gray filling once it is placed in the tooth. It has typically been used on back teeth, where a filling needs to hold up to years of chewing.

As with any filling material, whether a particular option is the right fit for a particular tooth is something to ask your pediatric dentist.

Where you might hear it at our office

The word amalgam does not come up much in our exam rooms, because our practice places tooth-colored composite fillings. Composite bonds to the tooth and is shaped to preserve healthy tooth structure and blend in with the smile around it. You can see how composite fits into the bigger picture of cavity repair on our restorative dentistry page.

If another word from a visit is still a mystery, the rest of the dictionary is right here.

Related words

Words that often come up alongside amalgam: composite, filling, crown.