Are Your Dentures Toxic To You?
The National Institute of Dentistry and Craniofacial Research lists a whole lot of reasons for BMS, but they conveniently exclude the possibility of poisoning from the chemicals in the plate itself.
They say that the cause can be anything “….from nutritional deficiencies to menopause to dry mouth and allergies”, and that the connection is unclear. But they do not include the obvious reason – the denture itself.
But denture toxins SHOULD be listed on their list of possibilities. Because the chemicals in a denture of plastic or acrylic fibre are highly toxic things which can damage your health.
Modern dentures are extremely suspect, because they are made of soft, porous plastic which is hydroscopic, so not only are you at risk of poisoning from the toxic components within the fibre of the denture, which leach into the body as it breaks down, but of carrying around a store-house of additional chemicals which have been absorbed into the denture.
Merrilyn’s new book has more on the subject of dentures and other health issues:
Sensitive people will be able to make the connection for themselves> I have proven myself that it is the chemicals within the modern porous denture which have been to blame for many health problems I have suffered over the years.
True, I was seriously ill many years ago, after being sprayed by helicopter for several hours with 245T. This was a ‘oncer’ which had disastrous effects on my health and that of my wee toddler, and also on my unborn baby. The MAF spraying of Auckland for apple moth was another example of being poisoned due to spraying programmes. But people do not usually question the safety of the modern denture, and consider the possiblity that you could be poisoning yourself on a daily basis by wearing them. Wearing dentures over many years has given me an insight into just how toxic these things really are.
The National Institute of Dentistry’s attitude towards BMS, with what I consider to be a feigned ignorance on the issue, – ‘we don’t really know what causes it – the connection is unclear’ – is rather like the medical profession turning a blind eye to the damage of vaccinations, or to the negative effects of Warfarin, or Fosamax. They promote them as being totally safe, whereas in fact, they KNOW there is a risk with these drugs. Where there is a vested interest, ignorance often prevails, and the truth is conveniently disguised. And I am sure the same wool is used to cloud our eyes as to the real truth about modern dentures.
For a start, highly toxic glues are used to stick the teeth into place. So, even if you have the very best of materials in a denture, you still have the glue, which tastes like apoxy resin, and this glue will eventually start to break down and enter your system. Apoxy resin is a known carcenogen.
The soft kind of plastics which most dental technicians like to use for convenience, because they can heat the stuff up and remould it time and time again, are porous and absorb all kinds of things, including caffeine, food preservatives, and chemicals in the environment such as pesticides. You end up with a cocktail of poisons which is incredibly potent. And at the same time your dentures are absorbing more chemicals, the soft plastic is beginning to break down, accelerated by the saliva in the mouth, food substances, hot food and drinks, etc. You end up with a combination of toxic chemicals in the dental plate being leached into your body.
The process of leaching works pretty much in the same way as a mercury filling continually emmits a small amount of poisonous compounds into the body. It may be a small amount of poison, but it affects the body adversely, nevertheless.
The softer the plastic, the less stable it is, and the more quickly will it break down. That is a fact. So it stands to reason that the tough, concrete-like plastics which were formerly used, such as my father still wears from the 2nd world war, are going to be less problematic as far as poisoning from a denture goes.
I have had two very good communications from readers on the subject of dentures and their toxicity – You can read these comments for yourself under my post entitled ‘Toxic Dentures’.
One person commenting on my blog has experienced the very same problem, or one of them, which I experienced after just less than a year of wearing a brand new denture – BMS, or Burning Mouth Syndrome. Eventually, I had to discard the dentures completely, as they were so toxic to me, even after only one year. Now I go about without dentures at all, rather than have the toxic materials in dentures sitting in my mouth and poisoning my whole body, as well as giving me the BMS. Tingling and numbness in the arms and hands, dizziness, blurred vision, loss of memory, speech affected, nerve twitches, burning mouth, and depression all returned when I tried using the teeth again. But these symptoms all disappear like magic once the teeth are removed.
It is not my health that is to blame, as the ‘experts’ would claim, but my sensitivity to extremely hazardous chemicals which make up those dentures. But I would not have it otherwise, as being sensitive to poisons can be a great safeguard against getting cancer and other degenerative disease, if you only listen to what your body tells you. I have often been warned about chemical hazards which I have been able to avoid, because of my chemical sensitivity. However, I must say that vanity has gotten the better of me with the denture problem, and I have possibly only listened too late. I should have stopped wearing dentures years ago, when I first noticed their deleterious effect. I believe I may still be prone to getting cancer because of my immune system suffering through the wearing of toxic dental plastic.
I have found the same problem with dentures over the past 35 years of wearing dentures – They only have a limited life span for me, which is usually about 2 or 3 years, experience tells me. Then the poisoning symptoms start. My dental technician was angry with me because I was adamant that it was the poisons in the teeth which were causing my health problems , including the burning mouth – He claimed that it was because of germs in the denture. Bacteria. – Of course, this is likely as well, but once the germs get there, and begin to feed on the cocktail of absorbed poisons, and the plastic is leaching poisons, you cannot do much about it. No amount of denture cleaners will have any good effect. Denture cleaners are toxic in themselves, and these denture cleaning chemicals are absorbed into the plate which always makes the reactions worse for me, especially the BMS.
I found that the denture cleaner my dentist assured me would fix the problem, because it would kill the bacteria, he said, actually made the poison problem worse. My mouth was raw to bleeding. The chemical stuff from the denture cleaner, intended for the germs, got absorbed into the denture plastic, and it was several weeks before the taste of the cleaner dissipated from the teeth, even after I had ceased to use it.
I thought I would be right for the next 2 or 3 years after paying $3000 to the dental technician. But he mucked up the first setting so badly, I had to go back for a remoulding. He was angry because I had my own ideas about the toxins in dentures, and so, disliking his authority on the subject being challenged, especially by a mere woman in his eyes, consequently made a really rough job of the dentures, as well as being quite abusive to me. “There you go – you’ve got teeth now”, he said carelessly, as he pushed his awful handiwork into my mouth. His work was so incredibly shoddy – He had made the plate up minus several of the teeth which I had had before, and he did not fit the dentures so that there was a correspondence between the two plates, upper and lower. So there was no bite. They simply did not function, and looked really terrible as well. A bit like an old rabbit.
I couldn’t work out why his attitude had changed – The first time I had seen this dentist, aroung 7 years ago now, he was marvellous, gave me great service, as well as a great set of porcelain teeth set in the least toxic of the substances which he had available. All I can think of is that he, too, is suffering toxic reaction from working with the highly toxic denture materials, and that his nerves are shot, and he is suffering depression.
Michele writes in a comment on my ‘Toxic Dentures’ post, about a dental technician who had to give up her practice because of denture toxins affecting her health. This dentist now helps people with sensitivities to dentures by boiling them for around 24 hours, according to Michele’s comment. This technique is supposed to negate many of the mobile poisons.
Because his treatment was so rough, I wonder if my dental technician really did use all the expensive products which he said he did. I am not a dental technician, and so how would I know what products he actually used in the second, faulty, lot of teeth he made for me? Judging from the treatment he gave me, I doubt he used the supposed non-allergenic materials. My trust with this man is totally expired now.
The procedure he took to correct the teeth by heating the teeth so that he could remould them and add the missing teeth, ruined the life of the teeth for me. Instead of getting about two or three years of wearing a non-hazardous denture, the denture’s life was shortened to only a year because of the heat the technician applied. And possibly because of sub-standard materials. In effect, it was this dentist’s shoddy work which resulted in the denture being ruined for me, as far as its safe life span went. But of course, he would deny this to the bitter end. So I haven’t been back to see these dental technicians again, although the plates were insured for several years beyond when I ceased to wear them. I have subsequently accepted the loss of $3000 as a warning to avoid dentures and the likes of this man.
Heat is the worst thing for beginning the break-down of your denture. Heat is the worst thing for all plastics, as heat causes break-down of plastic. One example to prove my point is the warning that milk for babies should not be heated in a plastic bottle in a microwave, as the chemicals in the plastic leach into the baby’s milk. Of course, microwaves are pretty intense things, but wearing a denture in your warm mouth for a few years will have a similar effect. The chemicals in a porous denture made of a soft plastic or acrylic will start to leach into your body, making you sick. The plastic or acrylics will begin to break down in an environment of warmth and enzymes from foods, saliva enzymes, and substances such as coffee, Vitamin C, fruit, garlic, and many things which are otherwise good for your health.