I had two dental crowns placed. I wasn’t crazy about them having a metal based crown but my dentist said that I had to because they were back teeth and all porcelain crowns don’t work on back teeth. I agreed, mostly because I did not feel like I had much of a choice. Now I found out that one of them is made of 40% Palladium. Am I being poisoned by this? I know how bad palladium is for a body. If I went to a holistic dentist would I have a better chance of getting a non-toxic crown?
Felicia
Dear Felicia,
I am curious as to what led you to believe that palladium was poisoning you? I’ve done some research and palladium is a noble metal in the platinum family. It is mostly biocompatible. Plus, in the case of a crown, there would only be superficial contact. You would not be placing it in the body. I would love to see some research that says otherwise if some has been found because I keep up with these types of issues.
Some people have gotten the idea that palladium is toxic from the Iron Man movies. In those films, Tony Stark has an arc reactor with a palladium core that is poisoning his blood. This is fiction and not to be taken as accurate science. I did find a natural news website that said that palladium is a heavy metal that is bad for you but this is misinformation. It is a precious metal that is fairly light.
This same website takes you to link where, for a few hundred dollars, they’ll do a mineral analysis on you to make sure you are not at risk. I’d say that is sketchy motivation on that article at best.
In my opinion, you do not have anything to worry about. I would hate to see you spend money unnecessarily because you’ve been given the wrong information.
There is one thing your dentist is not up to date on, however. While you can’t put an all-porcelain crown on a back tooth, there are non-metal crowns that are strong enough for a back tooth. Zirconia crowns are a good example of that.
You won’t necessarily have to go to a holistic dentist to get a metal-free crown, though they could certainly provide you with one. Many dentists are willing to work around patient concerns when it comes to metal and other sensitivities. Mercury-free dentists would almost all be willing to work with you on that.
This blog is brought to you by Des Moines Dentist Dr. Phelan Thomas.
