Effect of moisture contamination on high-copper amalgam.

Moisture contamination caused delayed excessive expansion and deterioration of the physical properties only with the non-high-copper lathe-cut alloy amalgam containing zinc, but not with the new high-copper amalgam and the non-high-copper spherical alloy amalgam containing zinc. It affected the compressive strength and creep but not the hardness. The setting dimensional change of all amalgams containing zinc was slightly affected by it.