Biocompatibility Testing & Dental Toxicity in Spokane, Washington

Reactivity to dental materials can be loosely compared to food allergies. While many people have no problems with foods such as peanuts, fish, or soybeans, there is a small percentage of the population who will have an allergic reaction to these foods. The reaction to dental materials that we are testing for is similar to an allergy, but it appears to often be much more subtle. Most people do not even notice that anything is happening since they experience no immediate symptoms, but there can still be a reaction taking place. The immune system can react to dental materials as if they were infections or just toxic substances, and it will begin to work overtime to try to remove the “infection” from the body. Often these materials are placed with no investigation into potential problems because the dentists themselves are unaware of the hazards.

While no ethical dentist would ever knowingly place a toxic material in a patient’s mouth, most are simply unaware of the danger. Very few dentists are ever taught that patients can have a reaction to dental work, and those who are educated often believe that only certain types of materials are reactive, and that by avoiding them, they can avoid any such problems. The truth is that anybody can have an immune reaction to any material, and one very good way to minimize the possibility of such problems is to test the body’s reactions in vitro (in a laboratory) via Serum Biocompatibility Testing.