[The history of dental amalgam].

This article reviews the history of dental amalgam. There are indications that dental amalgam was used in the first part of the T'ang Dynasty in China (618-907 A.D.), and in Germany by Dr. Strockerus in about 1528. Ever since its introduction in the Western World in the 1830s, amalgam has been the subject of recurrent controversies because of its mercury content. Early amalgam was made by mixing mercury with the filings of silver coins.