of Dentistry, National Council Against Health Fraud, The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research NIDCR, American Cancer Society, Lupus Foundation of America, the American College of Medical Toxicology, the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology, Consumer Reports Prevention, WebMD and the International Association for Dental Research. History Dental amalgam has had a long history and global impact. It was first introduced in the Chinese materia medica of Su Kung in 659 A.D. during the Tang Dynasty. In Europe, Johannes Stockerus, a municipal physician in Ulm, Germany, recommended amalgam as a filling material as early as 1528. In 1818, Parisian physician Louis Nicolas Regnart added one-tenth by weight of mercury to the fusable metals used as fillings at the time to create a temporarily soft metal alloy at room temperature. Thus, amalgam (an alloy of mercury with another metal or metals, from the French word amalgame) was invented. This was further perfected in 1826, when Auguste Taveau of Paris used a silver paste made from mixing French silver-tin coins with mercury, which offered more plasticity and a quicker setting time. In Europe, prior to 1818, carious teeth were either filled with a melted metal, usually gold or silver (which would often lead to death of the nerve of the tooth from thermal trauma), or the tooth would be extracted. Further developments In 1855, Dr. J. Foster Flagg, a professor of dental pathology in Philadelphia, experimented with new mixtures of amalgam. In 1861, he presented his findings to the Pennsylvania Association of Dental Surgeons and, in 1881, he published his book, Plastic and Plastic Fillings. (Amalgam fillings were often called "plastic fillings" at the time.) The inevitable result of this affair was that silver amalgam was proven to be "an excellent filling material", and expanded dentistry's "ability to save teeth". Around the same time, John and Charles Tomes in England conducted research on the expansion and contraction of the various amalgam products. During the American Civil War, the debate on the merits of amalgam continued. In dental meetings, with now decades of use and dental research came the recognition of the importance of good technique and proper mixture on long-term success. It was argued, "the fault was not in the material but in the manipulation.... Some men's amalgam is good universally, and some men's gold is bad universally; the difference lies in the preparation of the tooth and in the plug (filling)."