THE ANODIC-DISSOLUTION OF DENTAL AMALGAMS STUDIES WITH ABRASIVE STRIPPING VOLTAMMETRY

The recently described technique abrasive stripping voltammetry was used to study the corrosion behavior of five commercial dental amalgams. Abrasive stripping voltammetry of these amalgams reveals details of the anodic dissolution of the alloys that are not accessible by other methods. Systematic studies of Sn-Hg alloys, Sn-Ag alloys, and dental amalgams lead to a method that allows the identification of the gamma-2-phase in dental amalgams. It can be shown that the non-gamma-2 amalgams have a higher stability than gamma-2-containing amalgams only in solutions of very low complexation ability. In cases of more aggressive solutions such as lemon juice, non-gamma-2 and conventional amalgams exhibit identical behavior during the anodic oxidation.