Auguste Taveau
Auguste Taveau was a French dentist. In 1826, he was the first to use amalgam as a dental restorative material,[1] although he had originally developed it as early as 1816.
[edit] History
In 1816, Auguste Taveau developed his own dental amalgam from silver coins and mercury. This amalgam contained a very small amount of mercury and had to be heated in order for the silver to dissolve at an appreciable rate. Taveau's formula offered lower cost and greater ease of use compared to existing materials such as gold, but had many practical problems, including a tendency to significantly expand after setting. Because of these problems, this formula was abandoned in France. In 1833, however, two untrained Europeans, the Crawcour brothers, brought Taveau's amalgam to the United States under the name "Royal Mineral Succedaneum".[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Anderson MH, McCoy RB. Dental amalgam: The state of the art and science. 3rd Ed. (Philadelphia: Saunders, 1993)
- ^ Quicksilver quacks - 17 November 2001 - New Scientist
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