The 2014 ADA Professional Product Review reported on the BPA released from 11 bis-GMA and 2 bis-GMA-free composite dental filling products.
BPA is a common compound used in plastic and epoxy resin products such as, eye glasses, lenses, baby bottles and eating utensils. The recent data suggests that BPA mimics estradiol (a female sex hormone) in the body. This BPA has been linked to heart disease, obesity, diabetes, immune system and reproductive disorders, breast cancers and other health hazards.
Since 1996, most dental manufactures have stopped adding BPA to their resin products and switched to bis-GMA, bis-DMA or bis-EDMA products. For this study the ADA Laboratory researchers wanted to know if there were still detectable amounts of BPA in these new products.
The report showed that although the levels are extremely low, they found detectable levels of BPA in all the tested resin products. This was surprising because many of these companies advertise that their resin products are BPA or bis-GMA-free products.
They suspect that there is still detectable levels of BPA in these products because they are released from the chemical reaction of the composite, exposure to saliva enzymes and possibly incomplete curing of the resin products.
Conclusion: Although the results of the study show that all bis-GMA based products have the potential to release BPA at a detectable level, all of the tested products released BPA at levels far below the daily exposure limits set by the EPA. Several of the bis-GMA resin products produced daily exposure levels that were 1 million to 7 million times lower that the EPA’s maximum permissible daily limits.
Therefore, patients and dentists should be skeptical of the claims that dental products are BPA-free or use other kinds of dental products (porcelain, zirconia, gold) to restore their teeth.
If you have further questions or concerns, respond to this blog, call or write the office.
Rev. Dr. Stephen A. Lawrence
760-729-9050
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