A study of the influence during trituration of air-borne impurities on the strength of amalgam

The purpose of this study was to determined the effect of air-borne gaseous impurities, introduced during trituration, on the strength of amalgams. Four experiments were conducted. Each experiment consisted of a control group (1) in which the amalgam was triturated in air and an experimental group (2) in which the amalgam was triturated in argon, an inert gas. Standard specimens yielded mean diametral tensile strengths of 5950 psi (1) and 6603 psi (2). Hand compacted specimens yielded mean diametral tensile strengths of 5829 psi (1) and 6412 psi (2). Standard specimens yielded mean compacted hydraulically yielded mean uniaxial tensile strengths of 10,928 psi (1) and 11,660 psi (2). Statistically, the differences between the means for each experiment are significant. Hence, trituration in an inert gas has been shown to be an effective method for increasing the strength of amalgam.