Safety of dental materials

When a tooth is damaged by decay or trauma, the dentist must restore it to proper function using man-made materials. Dentists, unfortunately, cannot make natural enamel!

Because of recent technological advances, we now have many restorative materials to choose from. Some are very strong, others are more biocompatible, some are more aesthetically pleasing; some may be more expensive, others are reasonably priced. The ‘perfect’ material does not exist; we have to make a compromise somewhere in order to ‘save’ the tooth.

And each tooth in each mouth must be assessed individually in order to select the ‘best’ material to restore it. A very small cavity, for example, may be restored with composite and last almost a lifetime. A very large composite placed on a molar however will probably fracture or wear rapidly under chewing and grinding forces; ceramic would be recommended for this situation.

And will the material be safe for your health? People are increasingly concerned about this aspect. A knowledgeable dentist is the best person to discuss the risks and benefits of different materials with you.

On the left, we have listed the materials we most commonly use in our office. These have been selected because of their regular suitability based on the Clifford serum biocompatibility test done for our patients in the past. You may want to consider having this test done for yourself before replacing your present fillings (www.ccrlab.com). We have test kits available; total cost can run up to $400. or $500.

You are welcome to study the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) published on the web by the manufacturers of these preferred products. We do not make natural enamel but we do offer the safest and strongest materials available today based on current science.

BPAs: All composites may leach from one to thirteen parts per billion of BPAs – a dose presently considered insignificant for health.

Could the product we are using cause any harm?

COMPOSITES :

• Renamel Microfill (pdf)
• Renamel Nano (pdf)
• Heliomolar
• Voco Grandioso (pdf)
• MPa Adhesive resin(pdf)
• ClearFil Photo Bond Resin (pdf)

CEREC CROWNS AND INLAYS :

• e.max
• Empress

CROWNS AND BRIDGES :

• Mini Gold
• Academy Gold
• Brite Gold XH (pdf)
• Porcelain for implant crowns IPS InLine)
• Opalite bridges (metal-free zirconia) (pdf)
• Facettes Cristal Veneersl : Chemical ingots and porcelain (pdf)

CEMENTS FOR CROWNS, VENEERS AND BRIDGES :

• Rely-X Veneer
• Unicem2
• Temp-Bond (pdf)

Local anaesthetics

• Astracaine 4% (pdf)
• Citanest Plain 4% (pdf)
• Scandonest Plain 3% (pdf)
• Scandonest 2% (pdf)

Partial dentures

• Vitallium (pdf)
• Pink acrylic (Ivocap)

Whitening

• Opalescence 35%: (pdf)

ORMOCER

• Admira (pdf)

For more information on the safety of specific dental treatments, see our FAQ page.