Final answer:
The silver filling material used for over 150 years to restore primary and permanent teeth is called dental amalgam. Dental amalgam is a solid solution that contains 50% mercury and 50% of a powder that contains mostly silver, tin, and copper, with small amounts of zinc and mercury.
Step-by-step explanation:
The silver filling material used for over 150 years to restore primary and permanent teeth is called dental amalgam.
Dental amalgam is a solid solution that contains 50% mercury and 50% of a powder that contains mostly silver, tin, and copper, with small amounts of zinc and mercury. Solid solutions of two or more metals are commonly called alloys.
Dental amalgams are used by dentists due to their low cost, ease of manipulation, and longevity compared to other materials. However, there have been concerns about the toxicity of mercury in dental amalgams.
Dentists use amalgams for their durability, ease of manipulation, and low cost. However, due to the mercury content, there have been growing health concerns regarding their use.