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Adverse reaction to crown ceramic

I am having and adverse reaction to certain dental ceramics. I have written to the companies that make the ceramics and they say it has never happened. I am wondering if they just have not documented reports of this. I hope I am not the only person who has ever had this problem. This is what happened:

I had veneers but I was allergic to the cement - probably the acrylic in it. I am allergic to acrylic. I was finally able to convince a dentist to replace the veneers with crowns and non-acrylic cement. I had a Ivoclar InLine ceramic fused to a captek core for the bottom teeth and they felt fine. The dentist did a very poor job on 4 of the top six crowns so I went to another dentist and asked him to give me the exact same materials. He said he would but he gave me lava crowns with Noritake cerebian porcelain fused to a zircon core without telling me. Those crowns tasted like chalk. He finally admitted they were not InLine. He said his lab didn't work with InLine and said they could make some Ivoclar emax crowns. I had the emax crowns put in byut they also taste terrible - somewhat sour and chalky. Both the Noritake and emax crownss caused irritation to the back of my throat until I had them polished with diamond paste.

I was able to get the MSDS for all the ceramics. The main difference I see is the InLine - the one that doesn't bother me - has no lithium oxide in it. The emax is 10-15% lithium oxide and the Noritake was only about 0.5% lithium oxide. That's not much Li for the Noritake, but it felt just as bad as the emax which has much more Li. The only other possibility that I have been able to think of is that of acrylic contamination. The lab for the second dentist told me that they sometimes use acrylic brushes. The lab that made the InLine told me they don't use acrylic brushes for the porcelain or glaze. But the glaze is put on at 900 degrees. That should decompose any acrylic.

Has anyone had a reaction like this to dental crowns? I have talked to dental lab techincians and many don't believe it's possible. I assure you it IS possible because it's happening to me.
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Avatar universal
Hy, Your dental crown may irritate your gums or even increase your risk of gum recession. Gum irritation arises because the crown material terminates just above the gums, which means the crown may rub on your gums. Gum irritation increases the risk of gum disease, particularly if you do not maintain good oral hygiene.
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Avatar universal
You may be allergic or be highly reactive to Lithium.  I did a dental compatibility report that gave the the list of dental materials that are compatible with my body or highly reactive.  I had 4 e max crowns that caused me a lot of discomfort but I did not remove them . 4 years later I have a lot of oral issues and I wonder whether this has to do with my allergy to the 4 crowns.  I am highly reactive to lithium. Thank you for providing the name of a brand that does not have it. I will keep it mind to seek for a replacement of what I have. I had burn feeling, inflammation, swelling of the mouth, I still cannot wear any lipstick as I react terribly to it since they put in the e max crowns and my lips feel burned, especially the side that touches my upper crown front tooth.
I wish you and any reader out there good luck on your search for healing. Do get a product compatibility report. The test your blood and give you a personalized list 50 pages long of products that are good or highly reactive for you. Biocomp Laboratories does that.  
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Avatar universal
I am having an adverse reaction to the emax material on 8 upper crowns.  The work was done 4 months ago and I thought it would go away... my tongue burns and is swollen.  Research is looking like it may be stomatitis as a result.  I don't know what to do.
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Avatar universal
Yep I had veneers and crowns done over a year ago and have had an ongoing severe allergic reaction to them. They used Emax and Variolink with the porcelain. I had patch testing done at the dermatologist and supposedly they tested me for these materials and nothing cane up as a positive reaction. Yet I’m still having severe side effects and want to rip them out. I cannot afford the Clifford blood test to see if I’m allergic, and even then that test  isn’t always accurate testing. I have severe hypersalivation, severe exfoliative cheilitis of my gums and lips, and the taste of the material is awful. I also get bubbles foaming in my mouth 24/7. I got a partial refund from the slimeball dentist who put them in and told me my side effects are all in my head and that it’s impossible to have an allergy to Emax. I am living proof an allergy is possible. I wish I knew what material to replace my veneers and crowns with.
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1 Comments
They are not doing the Clifford test anymore.  The founder Mr Clifford passed and the family closed the lab.  Stay away from Emax.  I had problems with it as well.
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Avatar universal
I am having major problems associated with dental work too. I had a sever reaction to temporary crowns 12 years ago and I'm highly allergic to acrylic and they were confident that was the problem and once my porcelain crowns were placed it was resolved. HOWEVER now I have to have a full mouth restoration with all teeth removed, multiple implants placed (from titanium and haven't had a problem). But my problem is that the dentures/hybrids are made from nanoceramic which contains acrylic. The dentist said it is sealed and cured but shouldn't be a problem. I don't want to take that risk (with removing ALL of my teeth) without having it tested first. There is also a more expensive option for Zirconia which doesn't contain acrylic or metals and shouldn't cause any problems, but again I want to be sure before the procedure. This also requires me going for over a week with no teeth at all. Does anyone know if nanoceramic that contains the acrylic would likely cause a reaction even if it's sealed and cured? I'm having an impossible time trying to find an allergist that will test for dental materials. Does anyone have any recommendations for that problem either? Thank you!
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Avatar universal
I found a solution. There's a fairly new type of crown that is made out of zirconim oxide. It has no lithium. They have improved it to the point where it look OK on anterior teeth. It's called Bruxzir anterior. I've had one on for several months now and I feel fine. No burning. So now when my old fashioned captek gold fused to porcelain crowns wear out I can have them replaced with Bruxzir.
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Avatar universal
In 2014 I had every tooth on my upper jaw crowned or veneered.  The dentist did not tell me what the material was.  Shortly after he was finished, I started having chalky feeling, burning feeling, very slight buzing sensation.  I read several studies and they said the lithium disilicate in the emax material was not risk free.  I am sure I am allergic to the material.  I called the manufacturer, they said they could not help.  My dentist was very annoyed with my assertion that the material is not biocompatible.  He said that he will replace them but charge me $32,000.  The original work cost me $26,000.  Be very careful of lithium disilicate.  You will be all alone if it goes bad.
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2 Comments
In know. I was hoping that if enough people had bad reactions like this we could get together on some kind of class action lawsuit. I called lawyers about a lawsuit and they said it costs more to file than the $26,000 or so that you would be suing for.
I am with you the material is bad.     I am reacting with burning mouth and swollen tongue.
Class action.... humm are others responding.
Avatar universal
I am having same problem as mentioned in the article. The doctor is not willing to accept that it could be allergy to the emac crown.  Are there any tests which can verify what one is allergic to? Any information will be helpful. IT has been 6 months struggling between the primary dentist and the periodontist. Please advice.
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4 Comments
Unfortunately there are no valid tests for lithium disilicate allergies. I have heard that a clinic in Boston has a devise where materials are placed in a mouth-guard that is put in the mouth to test materials. If you already have the lithium disilicate in your mouth that won't work. Any allergist will tell you that it is possible to be allergic to any kind of dental material. Perhaps the manufacturer has data which shows that some people have adverse reactions. The FDA MAUDE site can have data - consumers can put their own statelments on that site.  I advise people not get get any lithium disilicates put it. I'm sorry it took me so long to answer. I do not get notification of replies.
I am so glad I read this.  I have a gold crown my molar now and I am fine, except when I eat with a metal spoon and I get a shock effect. Now I need a crown for another molar, and my dentist no longer does gold crowns and wants to do a crown with zirconia. I found a Dr. can do the gold crown.
1) Is there a way to get a new crown that has the same composition as my old crown?
2) If another dentist uses a different lab, would each lab use a different composition for the crown's material?
3) Can I get tested for the material that would be used in the new crown?
You wrote this post a few years ago, so I hope you resolved the problem
I can so relate to how your body reacted to the crowns in your mouth because I had a similiar experience both with emax and metal.   I had 5 molars crowns that were porcelain to gold put on these root canaled teeth with metal post.  It felt like a battery in my mouth.  I constantly tasted the metal.  I recently had them replaced with porcelain crowns.  Problem solved.  They may not be as strong as Zirconium but they are strong.  Not to have a problem anymore of constantly tasting metal  is worth it. It also made me hyper and nervous I am not a person who eats hard foods like raw carrots anyway.  From what I have been reading glad I never tried zirconium either.

I have 6 emax crowns on my bottom front teeth.  Nothing but problems with these crowns.. I always get a burning sensation, like an acid taste coming from these crowns. I always have to touch the teeth to feel ok and have it stop bothering me. It has not felt right since day one.  It's been a year.  I don't know if that makes sense to you.   Long story short I am seeing an excellent holistic dentist that is replacing these 6 emax crowns in the next two weeks with porcelain.  Find yourself a true holistic dentist who understands the effects that toxic dental materials can have on  your physical and mental health.  My dentist is Dr. Zeines in NYC.   He has written books on the subject.
@Rochelleb1120 thanks for your comment.  I’ve now visited your Dr. as I’m also having problems with emax.  How have your porcelain been and which product of porcelain did you use?

Thanks!
Avatar universal
I had 2 zircinia crowns fitted in february, my mouth was very soar where the crowns touched inside my bottom lip. When I told the dentist he said they were too long & filed them down, a week later I went back and he filed them down again, the metalic taste in my mouth was terrible, I woke at night with my mouth and tongue stinging and burning. A week later I asked the dentist to remove the crowns, once again I had temps fitted and 2 weeks later emax crowns were fitted. I have the same problem as the zirconia crowns.  My dentist went on holiday for 2 weeks the day he fitted crowns. I have been to my doctor and had blood tests to ensure it is the crowns. My doctor said it is the crowns. I now dont know how to get an allergy test and what crowns next time. I have had ceramic crowns fitted in the past with no problems.
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Avatar universal
I'm having an adverse reaction to emax crowns. Inside my cheek where the crowns touch is rough and irritated. Also my cheek is a little swollen and discolored, and I don't like the taste. I found a biological dentist that can test for bio compatibility of materials and he said that the emax crown is very low bio compatibility for me
It's hard to find a dentist that knows the compatibility of materials..
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Avatar universal
Right now im in the process of having the material removed,the only catch is that i will losing some tooth enamel and there is only way to make sure the material was completely removed,by using UltraViolet light.
Still not sure how im going to convince the dentist to do this,i dont even know if it will work.
I found out about the UltraViolet light in this webpage:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20829156
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Avatar universal
Did you get a MSDS for the material that was used to restore your tooth? I have a very hard time getting that information from the dentists. Usually they just deny that dental materials can cause adverse reactions. It's incredibly frustrating. You will have to keep looking until you find a competent dentist. Not easy to do. You might get a copy of a book called "The Biocompatability of Dental Materials"

I think the most compatable materials are the old fashioned feldspathic porcelain fused to gold. It seems to be pretty old and reliable technology that has been around for at least 50 years. You could have your tooth crowned with that.
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Avatar universal
Yes,i believe you because i am having an allergic reaction to the resin/ceramic that was used to restore my tooth.
Only question i have now is how do i remove the material.
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