lead

Dental Labs: Foreign Versus Domestic (video)

January 31, 2012 By Catherine Hughes Leave a Comment

In the past, it has been reported that some dental crowns and bridges may be tainted with lead.

People quickly assumed the problem was with foreign dental labs, particularly those in China.

The Wealthy Dentist conducted a survey asking dentists a number of questions about foreign dental labs.

One dentist said, “Patients have been systematically kept in the dark when it comes to dental procedures. Patients should be given informed consent when choosing materials.”

Another dentist complained, “Too many dentists are accommodating low insurance payment schedules by buying materials and fabrications that are too cheap. It doesn’t seem to matter that it compromises the health of the patient.”

Click on Play to hear more of what dentists have to say about foreign dental labs –

What has been your experience with dental labs?

Filed Under: Dental Videos Tagged With: dental bridges, dental crown, dental crowns, dental labs, dental marketing, dentist, dentistry, dentists, lead, video marketing

Dental Materials Safety Concerns (video)

August 28, 2010 By Julie Frey 2 Comments

The safety of dental materials has been in the news due to concerns about BPA in sealants and composite and reports of dental crowns manufactured in foreign dental labs that may be contaminated with lead.

So we asked dentists who should be responsible for the safety of dental products. One third said the FDA, one quarter said dental labs should police themselves, and 41% said dentists should take responsibility.

“My local lab is placing 'made in America' on all of the return cases for the patients to see,” mentioned one dentist.

“Too many dentists are accommodating low dental insurance payment schedules by buying their dental materials and laboratory fabrications that are too cheap," complained another. "It doesn't seem to matter that it compromises the health of the patient."

Filed Under: Dental Videos Tagged With: BPA, dental labs, dental materials, lead

Foreign Dental Labs Cause a Stir Among Dentists (video)

June 13, 2009 By Jim Du Molin 3 Comments

In light of reports of dental crowns manufactured in Chinese dental labs that may be contaminated with lead, we conducted a survey of dentists on the topic of foreign dental laboratories.

Two out of three dentists think that the current publicity is just a tempest in a teapot, while the remainder expect it to be the next big health scandal.

Lead in Chinese Products Even a Problem in Comics…

June 9, 2008 By Jim Du Molin 2 Comments

Lead Scandal Makes the Funny Pages

All sorts of products anufactured in China have recently been alleged to be contaminated. Reports have surfaced of lead being found in everything from dental crowns to children’s toys. Johnny Hart, creator of BC, has clearly taken notice…

See more BC comic strips…

Filed Under: Dental Safety Tagged With: BC, china, chinese, Johnny Hart, lead

Dentists Say Lead Is Dentistry’s Biggest Health Threat

June 4, 2008 By Julie Frey 1 Comment

Other Dental Health Concerns Include Mercury and Bisphenol-A

In this survey, we asked dentists how concerned they are about various potential public health threats linked to dentistry. Dentists’ concerns, in order, are:

General dentists versus specialists

Lead in dental lab work
Mercury in amalgam
Bisphenol-A in composite, and
Fluoride in water supplies.

General dentists had higher levels of concern on all issues than specialists. However, specialists and generalists agreed on the relative dangers of the chemicals covered in this survey.

Dentists’ thoughts

“I’d like to be doing all gold restorations.” (New Jersey dentist)
“All four of these need to be totally nailed down as to their safety, or lack thereof.” (Arkansas dentist)
“Two things that will bite dentistry in the butt are fluoride and amalgam if we don’t stop forcing them on the public.” (Idaho dentist)

Mercury

“150 years have not proved Amalgam to be dangerous.” (Arkansas dentist)
“Amalgams have saved billions of teeth!” (Washington dentist)
“A known toxin, no safe levels, should be banned.” (Louisiana dentist)

Lead

“Lead in dental casting alloy? Outrageous!” (Colorado dentist)
“Recent articles have debunked the worry over the amount of lead in ‘farmed-out’ crowns. Still, we need to monitor that work.” (California dentist)

Bisphenol-A (BPA)

“This stuff is everywhere. Composites without BPA just don’t hold up well.” (Wisconsin dentist)
“It’s probably not too dangerous, but don’t cast stones, Mr. Composite: you live in a glass house!” (New Jersey dentist)
“It’s ironic that many patients are removing long tested amalgam and replacing them with bisphenol composites of unproven safety.” (California dentist)

Fluoride

“It’s been shown to be effective, but we shouldn’t be medicating the whole population.” (Colorado dentist)
“The best public health measure ever instituted in this country for caries prevention.” (Texas dentist)
“Known to be toxic.” (California dentist)