Overseas Dental Crowns May Contain Lead
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| Photo © Tammy Davenport |
In the past year, there have been toy recalls due to possible lead contamination, poisonous toothpaste alerts, tampered dog food and now, possibly dental crowns.
The American Dental Association recently reported that a crown made in an overseas dental lab may contain lead. While they are not sure if this is an isolated incident or a larger problem, the ADA is working closely with federal regulatory agencies to investigate this problem.
The American Dental Association advises that you ask your dentist whether he / she makes the crowns in the office or sends them off to a lab. If they are made in a dental lab, ask where the lab is located and if the dental lab ships the crowns to a foreign country. If so, they should be able to provide written documentation that they are registered with the FDA.
Poll: Have You Ever Had A Crown Made Overseas?
Comments
Excellent job reporting this story so quickly after it was released. Another great column.
It is unfortunate that in this country you should have to be concerned about your dental crown being made overseas.
However, this brings to light another issue about a previous blog entry.
Dental Tourism > when you visit an overseas dentist, you cannot be sure what type of materials they might be using. Some may in fact do a great job, but you can’t be sure and definitely would not have the same level of recourse that you might by receiving care by the hard-working dentists right here in the USA.
I have so many old crowns from dentists I haven’t seen in years. How are we supposed to find out where old crowns were made? (I don’t expect an answer… It’s just so frustrating, though.)
Florida already is beginning to act to inform patients about the source of their dental devices. Here is a statement from the Florida Dental Laboratory Association.
Florida Rep. Stan Jordan, R-Jacksonville, announced today that he
has filed legislation backed by the Florida Dental Laboratory
Association to implement more stringent regulations to protect
patients receiving the dental restorations affixed into the mouths of
millions of Americans each year.
Dental-restoration products - the porcelain crowns, dentures and
bridges that American dental patients have permanently seated in their
mouths - are currently under-regulated, with few legal requirements
for technicians to be certified and no mandates for dentists to
document or disclose the source of dental work to patients, Jordan
said Tuesday.
Although dentists prescribe the type of device they need for a
dental patient, the product is actually manufactured by a dental
technician employed by a dental laboratory, which could be located in
the United States or anywhere in the world. Due to the growing number
of Americans seeking dental restorative treatment and the growing
pressure by some dentists to cut costs and increase profit margins,
much of the dental work Americans carry in their mouths is now
imported from countries such as China, Pakistan, the Philippines and
India.
Jordan’s legislation, HB 923, will require all dental laboratories
to disclose to dentists where a product was manufactured and what
materials were used, and provide certificates of authenticity. It
further requires dentists to include these records in a patient’s
dental chart so patients can request the information and so health
officials can track and trace a dental restoration to its source
should a health problem later emerge. Finally, the bill requires
dental laboratory technicians to maintain continuing education every
two years.
“Such common-sense regulations are critical, we support them 100
percent and we thank Rep. Jordan for his leadership on this issue,”
said Bennett Napier, co-executive director of the Florida Dental
Laboratory Association. “Many dental devices are made from porcelain
fused to metal or from metal-alloys. If manufactured incorrectly,
these products could be contaminated with unacceptable levels of lead
or other toxic heavy metals that could make patients sick –
especially if they come from some third world countries that don’t
have the same dental material standards that are used in the United
States.”
If a patient does become ill from exposure to such toxic
materials, chances are they would report their health issue to a
medical doctor - not their dentist, Napier said. Without adequate
records to track the faulty product to its source, it is difficult for
health officials to respond to protect other patients.
“I believe it is an urgent priority to correct this problem and
establish a paper trail for these products,” Jordan said. “It’s not
very often that industries ask for tighter regulation of themselves,
but the Florida Dental Laboratory Association and the National
Association of Dental Laboratories have been speaking out about the
need to protect patients as the number of dental restorations
manufactured by foreign dental laboratories increases each year.”
The National Association of Dental Laboratories - the leading
trade group for the $5.5 billion U.S. dental-restoration products
industry - has formally asked the Food and Drug Association to protect
patient safety and require labeling and disclosure of the source of
dental devices to patients, ensuring all such products can be traced
back to the laboratory that made them.
The Association has also testified before the Presidential
Interagency Working Group on Import Safety to urge the federal
government to recognize the need for more stringent oversight,
including promoting certification of dental technicians employed at
both domestic and foreign laboratories, mandating that dental
laboratories register with the Food & Drug Administration or with
state health departments, as well as increasing inspections of the
content and quality of imported dental-restoration products.
Linda McGee, owner and operator of Suncoast Ceramic Studio, a
Brandon-based dental laboratory, said she urgently supports Rep.
Jordan’s bill.
“I am proud of the dental crowns, bridges, dentures and other
dental restoration products that I and our technicians manufacture out
of the highest-quality materials,” McGee said. “Our industry makes
medical devices for the patient based upon a prescription from a
licensed dentist. Because these products will be with that patient, in
some cases, for the rest of their lives, it is too important to leave
an open door for unsafe or untraceable materials.”
The Florida Dental Laboratory Association is a trade association
dedicated to advancing the dignity, honor and efficiency of those
engaged as operators and technicians of dental laboratories, to
advance their standards of service to the dental profession through
education and to establish cooperation among the profession. For more
information, please visit www.fdla.net.
I guess it is a good awareness to know about dental crown being done overseas…