I'm wondering how many others here have had "metal" caps, crowns, bridges or braces throughout their lifetime?

I have a mouthful of dental work, and recently realized that I have been ignoring an infected, capped, root canal for well over a year. In the process of researching the potential repercussions of leaving this type of infection untreated , it came to light that many of the dental procedures (not fillings) use "stainless steel" (translation nickel) in them. Nickel could be toxic to humans.

Apparently the easiest test of whether a person is particularly sensitive to nickel is if they can't wear cheap earings. I can't.

MS occurs most often in women and the ratio of women to men has grown even in the last 20 - 40 yrs. Women are more likely to invest in this expensive & cosmetic dental work (many men might just the tooth pulled instead), and/or to wear earings.

So, I thought I'd throw the questions out . . . for either/both genders to answer:

1. Have you had bridges, caps, crowns or braces that may have contained nickel?

2. Are you aware whether you are sensitive to nickel (i.e. cheap earings)?

NOTE: There has been talk of mercury from fillings in the past, but this is the first I've read about nickel.

Cherie

1. Have you had bridges, caps, crowns or braces that may have contained nickel?

I have four caps from a car accident at 15. I also wore braces from 10-14 years of age.



2. Are you aware whether you are sensitive to nickel (i.e. cheap earings)?

I can't wear cheapo ear rings, and in fact, let my ears close and have not worn an ear ring in some 5-6 years. I'm not much of a jewlery person anyway.


I did have all my mercury/Almalgum removed in 2001 as well.

Good question

Other than a mouth full of amalgams, I've never had any other metalwork put in my mouth.

I do know that I have a serious nickel allergy. It built up over time when I was a teenager and kept buying crappy earrings with nickel in them in a vain attempt to wear earrings like Madonna's.

Now my jewelry has to be either .825 or .925 silver, or I have to have 14k gold. The best part about the nicer earrings, they look way better than the crap I put on my ears when I was a teenager.

I hate it when someone gives me earrings as a gift, tells me that they're sterling silver and I cant find the .825 or .925 stamped in the metal (it law that sterling silver cant be called sterling silver unless it has .825 or .925 stamped on it)

The person gets all ticked because I dont immediately put the earrings on, or gets mad when I say that I cant wear them because of a nickel allergy.

HI Cherie,

I also have an infected capped root canal. Byranna gave me some advice on it in the dentistry forum.

I also have a lot of crowns so I am going to read up more on what you have brought up in terms of a nickel allergy. Thanks!

Good question.
I don't have anything other a mouth full of ugly fillings but I can't wear cheap jewelry, gold has to be at least 14K.

I forgot to mention that I need to get at least one root canal done VERY SOON. My dentist is going to be removing my amalgams at around the same time, because the amalgams are cracking my teeth.

She said my amalgams are extremely old, and that she thinks they have a high mercury content. (not sure how she knows how they'd have a high mercury content)

Great subject Cherie

I have several crowns not sure if they have nickel, but they go back nearly 25 years. My mom was afraid of the dentist so as kids we didn't go at all, after the divorce. At 18, I started going and had many cavities and several root canals.

I'm considering having my amalgam removed, now am wondering about the crowns/caps. I see the dentist next week and will see what she says.

Thanks again for the info.

Funny you should ask...

When I was about 25, I developed severe headaches. The doctor determined that they weren't migraines, and referred me to a neurologist.

The headaches occured on a fairly regular schedule. They usually happened early in the morning, but if I didn't have one by ~8am, I knew I was going to be O.K. till at least ~4:00pm.

When they happened, it felt like if I could just squeeze my head hard enough, I would be able to stop the pain. The only thing that would stop the pain was a prescription suppository that knocked me unconcious almost immediately (hah...try inserting a suppository when you think your head is going to explode!).

During that time, a dental bridge in my mouth came loose (when I lost a baby tooth, the permanant tooth never developed-hense the bridge).

The day that the old bridge was taken out, I develped one of the headaches, but it last three days. I spent two of those days in the hospital on drugs.

Two weeks later when the bridge was ready to be installed, the hygienist asked how I was as she showed me to the exam room. I just happened to mention that I had been having headaches, but that they had mysteriously disappeared after the three day headache ordeal following the bridge removal.

The next thing I knew the dentist came flying in the door.

He quizzed me about my headaches. He asked about rashes (which I didn't have). Then he told me that my old bridge had been made out of nickel. It suprised him a little when he noticed it, because (according to him) "NO ONE makes anything out of nickel anymore".

But when he heard about the head aches he was just amazed, because he said that the headaches I described were a "classic" nickel allergy.

And furthermore, he said that since NO ONE used nickel anymore, I could have suffered FOREVER because no one would have been looking for a nickel allergy.

I've never had problems with snaps on jeans (I've heard that the snaps are usually made of nickel), but have had problems with Mexican made silver earrings (the posts are often soldered with nickel) causing my ears to bleed.

Sooooo....do I think my bridge caused my MS??? No....probably not. But...no one else in my family has MS...and no one else in my family has had a bridge made of nickel, so...what do I really know????

I believe that nickel hasn't been used on a regular basis in dentistry in the US for many years.

That reminds me that my caps are now all porcelain....I replaced my old ones some years ago. The bad thing is that they break easier