[Screening for temporomandibular disorders : A sensible approach?]

General diseases and medications in 687 patients reporting on adverse effects from dental materials

OBJECTIVES

Examination of patients claiming adverse effects from dental materials can be very challenging. Particularly, systemic aspects must be considered besides dental and orofacial diseases and allergies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate a cohort of 687 patients reporting on adverse effects from dental materials focusing on findings related to known general diseases or conditions or medication-related findings with relevance to their subjective complaints.

METHODS

Six hundred eighty-seven patients visiting a specialized consultation on claimed adverse effects from dental materials were retrospectively investigated for their subjective complaints, findings related to known general diseases or conditions, medication-related findings, dental and orofacial findings, or allergies with relevance to their subjective complaints.

RESULTS

The most frequent subjective complaints were burning mouth (44.1%), taste disorders (28.5%), and dry mouth (23.7%). In 58.4% of the patients, dental and orofacial findings relevant to their complaints could be found. Findings related to known general diseases or conditions or medication-related findings were found in 28.7% or 21.0% of the patients, respectively. Regarding medications, findings related to antihypertensives (10.0%) and psychotropic drugs (5.7%) were found most frequently. Relevant diagnosed allergies toward dental materials were found in 11.9%, hyposalivation in 9.6% of the patients. In 15.1% of the patients, no objectifiable causes for the expressed complaints could be found.

CONCLUSIONS

For patients complaining of adverse effects from dental materials, findings related to known general diseases or conditions and medications should be given particular consideration, while still in some patients, no objectifiable causes for their complaints can be found.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

For patients complaining about adverse effects from dental materials, specialized consultations and close collaboration with experts from other medical fields are eligible.

Non-allergy-related dental and orofacial findings in 625 patients reporting on adverse effects from dental materials

OBJECTIVE

In a cohort of 500 patients complaining about adverse effects from dental materials, allergies were found to be contributing to the patients' subjective complaints in only about 14% of the cases. Therefore, the aim of this retrospective study was to investigate an enlarged cohort of 625 patients reporting on adverse effects from dental materials on non-allergy-related dental or orofacial findings with relevance for their subjective complaints.

METHODS

625 patients visiting a specialized consultation on suspected adverse effects from dental materials were characterized regarding age and sex distribution, subjective complaints, allergies, and dental and orofacial findings with relevance for their subjective complaints.

RESULTS

This cohort comprised about 81% females and the median age was 58 years. The most often reported subjective complaints were burning mouth (43.8%), taste disorders (28.8%) and dry mouth (22.7%). Allergies toward dental materials were found in 12.3%. In 28.0% of the patients, no dental or orofacial findings with relevance for the subjective complaints expressed by the patients could be found. 19.8% of the patients exhibited relevant functional symptoms, 16.2% relevant orofacial diseases, 15.2% relevant mechanical irritations, 10.1% or 9.4% relevant tooth-related or plaque-related symptoms, respectively, 9.4% hyposalivation, and in 7.2% relevant manufacturing faults were found.

SIGNIFICANCE

In patients complaining about adverse effects from dental materials, a wide variety of dental or orofacial findings need to be considered despite allergies, although a quarter of the patients did not present any relevant dental or orofacial finding. Therefore, specialized consultations and close collaboration with experts from other fields are eligible.