Adsorption of released ions from dental amalgams on titanium

Effects of titanium plate in contact with amalgams of 'Hi Atomic M' (HA) and 'Lumi Alloy' (LM) on the release of metal ions from those amalgams into 0.9% NaCl solution were investigated using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, electron probe microanalysis and XPS. Except for Hg, the release of ions increased about ten times on Ti contact, whereas that of Hg was diminished several-fold. No measurable amounts of Ti ions were found in solution. Where the Ti is in contact with the amalgam, every element was deposited almost proportionally to the solution composition. Tin oxide containing several percent of In₂O₃ covered the top surface of Ti connected to the conventional HA amalgam. However, the dominant species on Ti connected to the high-copper LM amalgam were Cu and Sn oxides. On the Ti connected to the amalgams, the concentrations of other elements were very low.