Re: UV in dental treatment

[Franz Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 16:39 15.08.1998 -0500, you wrote:
>As a former practicing dentist, perhaps I can add a bit 
>more technical detail to the former responses to the 
>request for info on UV in dentistry:
>Most of the new composite resin filling materials require 
>UV light to catalyze polymerization.  These filling 
>materials have several advantages.  They can be matched to 
>the subject's teeth in color.  They bond chemically to 
>enamel--unlike all previous materials which depended on a 
>physical seal to prevent leakage of saliva and all it 
>carries to the space around and under the filling.  So 
>these materials have applications other than pure 
>cosmetics. 
>Hope this helps.
>
---------------------------------------

I would like to add a little of my own experience. My dentist uses this
stuff now since several years - since the insurance company pays for it. He
told me that there are several advances from the dentists point of view,
one being that it is very easy to work with it, to put it into shape, not
to talk about the advantage of the color. One of the reasons for its wide
application is most probably the horror stories which are spread about the
effect of mercury from the old amalgam fillings. Some people postulate that
the mercury is dissolved by saliva and that the body is poisoned by it. To
my knowledge research has resulted in the findings that the possible
elevation of Hg-concentration in the body is far less than the natural
variation due to food intake. (So you see, dear RADSAFERs, that there are
horrorstories not only about the deadly effects of femtoCuries per
cubic-mile I-131 in aerosols from nuclear power plant emission, but also in
other fields!)

I am still waiting for an explanation from the original poster of this
subject, what dermatologic problems could arise from UV-use for
polymerisation. My dentist has a mini UV-lamp, which is put closely to the
area to polymerise, which has a shield, so that the dentist will not even
be affected by scattered UV-light when he looks at that place to control
and it is has an automatic switchoff after some tens of seconds. 

Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-495 53 08
Fax.: same number
mobile phone: +43-664-338 0 333
e-mail: schoenho@via.at

Office:
Federal Institute for Food Control and Research
Department of Radiochemistry
Kinderspitalg. 15
A-1095 Vienna
Austria
Tel.: +43-1-40 491 520
Fax.: +43-1-40 491 540
e-mail: schoenhofer@baluf.via.at
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