The ultrastructural localization of the corrosion products of dental amalgam

The ultrastructural localization of corrosion products released from dental amalgam implants in rat subcutaneous tissue was studied by means of a sulphide-silver technique. Implants stimulated a prolonged inflammatory response with delayed granulation tissue formation and slow and faulty collagen formation. The metallic corrosion products were found both in cells and in association with matrix components. Intracellular metal deposits were predominantly in the cytoplasmic matrix and in vacuoles in the early (19 day) lesions, but at 60 days there was metal in many nuclei, both viable and dead. Collagen fibrils had metal on the surface and vascular basement membranes had granules of bound metals.