According to DigoPaul, an amalgam is a combination or a union of elements that have different characteristics or essences. In chemistry, an alloy that is created with mercury and other metals is called amalgam.
It should be remembered that an alloy is the result of the casting of two or more elements of which at least one is a metal. Amalgams, in this way, are alloys that have mercury as one of these elements.
When mercury is the most prominent metal in the alloy, a liquid amalgam is obtained. On the other hand, if mercury appears in a smaller proportion than the other metal, it is a solid amalgam.
These amalgams are often used, in the field of art and jewelry, to modify the characteristics of various elements. The silver amalgam, for example, allows plated bronze, brass and copper. The gold amalgam, meanwhile, serves to gild brass, copper and even silver itself.
In dentistry, the material is called amalgam which, with the aim of restoring the pieces, is applied to the holes left by caries in the teeth, restoring stability to the piece and allowing the person to chew. These amalgams can combine mercury with gold, silver, copper, tin, or other metals.
The normal thing is that in dentistry there is talk of silver amalgam, to refer to said alloy that allows replacing the tissue that has been lost due to caries, so that the patient does not see the use of his teeth affected.
The amalgam is placed in one of Black’s cavities, one of which was recognized and classified by Dr. Greene Black, considered one of the fathers of modern dentistry; There are five classes, which respond to the characteristics and location of the cavities that caused them. The type of injury therefore determines the cavity in which the amalgam is located.
It is important to note that dental amalgams do not stick to tissue, which is why they are said to be retentive. One of the most obvious benefits compared to fillings is the low cost, but it also lasts longer. On the other hand is the aesthetic factor, where your opponent wins: the silver color inevitably stands out in the mouth and this makes many people reject it.
Silver amalgam causes an increase in mercury exposure for both patients and all professionals of health that manipulate. During cremation, burning amalgams contributes to the emission of mercury and pollutes the air.
Finally, for everyday language, an amalgam is a mixture that is stable, homogeneous or strong: “With your sales capacity and my accounting experience, we have the perfect amalgam to succeed in business. ”
As can be seen in the previous example, we are dealing with two individuals who present different abilities, elements that do not coexist in any of them but that could benefit them both if they merged; for this reason, they make the decision to associate to create an amalgam that allows them to achieve their objectives successfully, in the same way that in chemistry different materials are combined so that each one contributes different properties and characteristics.
On the other hand, it is also possible to understand the term amalgam in a relatively negative sense, if we take it as a mixture of objects or people that is confusing. If we focus on a literary narrative, for example, where characters or situations from different origins are presented without an apparent order or reason, then we can say that it is an amalgam that generates an interference in the message.