composites worse than amalgam?
I wanted to get my
Amalgams replaced so I went to my dentist. He said he would replace them (not exactly following the correct protocol) with a composite made by Kerr called Point 4. So I went to the Kerr website (see Link 1) and found some high level decriptive stuff. I also found a Material Data Safety sheet on Point 4 (see Link 2) which got me concerned. It said "Thorough biocompatibility and toxicity testing of the cured material and its extracts have demonstrated that the material is non-toxic" and that Point 4 contained a hazardous material, when uncured, called "methacrylate ester monomer".
So I called Kerr and asked them about the testing. They said it was all proprietary and would not tell me anything (was it tested on humans? how long? etc). Also, they said to see the dentist for a list of all materials in the product.
So I did some more research and found the following ingredients in the composite:
PRODIGY 0.4 Formula
Component Description
BISGMA Bis-phenol-A-bis-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloxypropyl) ether
TEGDM Triethyleneglycoldimethacrylate
EBADM Ethoxylated bis-phenol-A-dimethacrylate
UV-9 2-Hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone
BHT 2,6-Di-(tert-butyl)-4-methylphenol
CQ 1,7,7-Trimethylbicyclo-[2.2.1]-hepta-2,3-dione
TINOPAL 10-Methoxy-1-sulfostilbene-3-triazolonapthalene, sodium salt
ODMAB 2-(Ethylhexyl)-4-(dimethylamino)benzoate
TS530 Fumed silicon dioxide
OX-50 Fumed silicon dioxide
A174 gamma-Methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane
BaG Barium aluminoborosilicate
V5500 Zinc oxide
DISP2 Phosphated Polyester
Pigments vary depending upon shading
http://Link 1 http://www.kerrdental.com/Composites/OptimizedParticle/Point4/index.html
http://Link 2
http://www.kerrdental.com/msds_US/Point%204.pdf