amalgam dental restoration material Color depends on which metal is in the alloy at what % (e.g. if copper is more, amalgam become blackish). A metal dental restoration material that consists of alloy that is formed by reacting mercury with silver, copper, tin and sometimes palladium, zinc and other elements to improve handling characteristics and clinical performance. Titus Schleyer 1/14/2014: updated definition metal dental restoration material Nivedita Dutta (Chowdhury) Bill Duncan Bill Duncan Titus Schleyer