[ChickenKungPao]

I was curious about the hardening mechanism of a dental amalgams.  Why does it harden?  Is it just an alloy phase transition to the solid phase?

This is a stretch as I have only limited knowledge of metal solublility in mercury.  A particular Gold ore purification process amalgamates merucry w/ Gold  where the solution is then boiled to drive off mercury and precipitate gold.

Is something similar happening in the filled tooth?  That is, a fresh filling outgases merucry - driving down solution concentration of mercury - to eventually cause the alloy to solidify from a paste.

Thanks,