In accordance with a report by Amar Patel, DDS, Residents and Colleagues at the University of Maryland Dental School, dentists have to pay more attention to potential hazards of exposing patients to zinc; which actually is a common ingredient of a lot of dental products.
Amar Patel stated that "Of direct concern to dental professionals ... has been the recent discovery of neurological disorders resulting from excessive use of denture adhesives, having highly transmittable zinc contents which can cause copper deficiencies."
It is a well known fact that small amounts of the element zinc are necessary for the proper functioning of practically any body system, but not everyone knows that too much zinc in the organism can be toxic. There are documented cases where people have developed neurological problems due to toxic amounts of zinc in their body's. Zincs toxicity can also be manifested as nausea, and mouth irritation.
A lot of dental patients are routinely exposed to zinc from definite restorative materials, like denture adhesives or even mouthwashes and toothpastes.
"Dentists are suddenly hungry for more information on zinc," says co-author Nasir Bashirelahi, PhD. "It is used in dental products abundantly, especially denture adhesives or pastes."
The research explains that "the link of excessive zinc intake has been related to copper insufficiency due to the competition in absorption patterns for the two metals in the gastrointestinal tract," at the time when several studies showed a link between "Copper Deficient Anemia, and Neutropenia with an increase of zinc intake."
"Suddenly this issue is very important for the dental profession, with many practical applications," added Bashirelahi.
People are living longer these days and it is natural that everyone wants to stay healthy for as long as possible; that said, it is important to mention that zinc is significant in human physiology, especially taking into consideration the fact that it is involved in the proper functioning of the immune system, cellular growth, cell division and a proper work of a cell replacement system.
Despite the fact that zinc deficiency is a very widespread problem all over the world, it's important to note that its excessive dietary intake is comparatively rare.
Source:
University of Maryland Baltimore, March/April 2011 issue of the journal General Dentistry.
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