Ingestion of more than trace amounts can cause mercury poisoning. The effect of this poisoning can manifest itself an a variety of ways and is often linked to chronic health problems. Mercury is one of the most toxic non-radioactive metals in existence. This issue will be addressed in another section. The term 'amalgam' refers to any of a number of mercury alloys.
Dental amalgam is the mercury alloy which is used in teeth for reconstructive purposes.
Dental amalgam is commonly known as 'silver' fillings. This term is most likely derived from the fact that people are more likely to be familiar with silver than mercury. It is also likely that by calling these 'silver' fillings, the mercury content is played down. I believe that most people don't know that 'silver' fillings contain mercury. I also believe that many that do know, do not know that mercury is toxic.