Archives for January 2018

I’ve had removable partial dentures placed, ever since then I haven’t felt myself. Then I started breaking out into sores around my tongue and inside my mouth. I showed my dentist and he sent me to my doctor, who sent me to a different specialist, who sent me to a different specialist. It got so bad I ended up at the hospital. That’s when they discovered I was allergic to nickel. I checked and a lot of these type of dentures have nickel in them. I do take them out at night, but have to wear them to work. Is there any way this can be changed? Could this be why I never feel well?

Amanda L.

Dear Amanda,

I’m flabbergasted when I hear stories like this. Checking about metal reactions and allergies should have been his primary thought. It’s a fundamental part of dental care. In fact, any metal sensitivities should be a question on every dental questionnaire. Women tend to have this is greater share to greater effect as well.

Yes, your removable partial dentures could very likely be making you sick. I’ll illustrate it with a story Dr. David Hall shared on his mynewsmile.com blog.

“I had one rare case in my practice of a woman who was allergic to mercury. While most of my patients didn’t want mercury-containing amalgam fillings in their mouths, for this woman it was imperative to get rid of them because she had a confirmed and very rare allergy to mercury. We had several appointments to take out all of her amalgam fillings and replace them with composites. After the first appointment, she developed a rash on her throat and chest and had some difficulty breathing because of the amalgam dust that we had created during this procedure. From then on we draped her to avoid any additional exposure and gave her a nose mask to breathe through during these appointments. I remember when she came in for her six-month checkup after all of this was completed and I asked her if there was any change in how she felt. She told me that she had been troubled with arthritis, but since the amalgam was removed the arthritis was gone. I am confident that her arthritis was related to her constant exposure to allergens.”

Is There a Solution When You Have Metal Allergies?

There are many alternatives to metal dentistry these days, even apart from mercury-free dentists. For instance, in your case, instead of getting the less expensive fixtures which have a high nickel content, your dentist could provide you with a Vitallium partial which contains no nickel.

Additionally, while the titanium that makes up dental implants rarely causes any allergic reaction, there are now Zirconia implants available which are metal free. What you need is a dentist who cares enough to do some research, or better yet, keeps up with the advances to begin with.

This blog is brought to you by Dr. Raymond Bolt.