Long ago, tooth cavities were often filled with gold. Gold is a perfect filling material because it’s pliable, durable and doesn’t corrode. But it’s also really expensive. So dentists started offering their patients an alternative to gold called amalgam, which was less expensive, yet still remarkably strong and durable.

The word amalgam means ‘mixture or blend” and dental amalgam is a mixture of mercury, silver, tin, copper and small amounts of some other metals. As scientists have more recently discovered many serious side-effects of mercury, some dentists, including us here at My Dental Care, started offering their patients a mercury-free fillings option that comes with some added benefits too.

In addition to being better for your health, mercury-free fillings actually bond to your tooth so that more of your tooth can be kept versus using amalgam. Perhaps best of all for your smile, mercury-free fillings more closely match the colour of your teeth, so its almost impossible for anyone to tell you that you have fillings!