The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of contact sensitization to metals used in dental practice among students of dental medicine, students from a dental technician school, dental professionals and patients. A total of 128 participants: 28 dental professionals, 40 students of dental medicine, 38 students from a dental technician school and 22 patients without occupational exposure to metals, were patch tested with potassium dichromate, cobalt(II) chloride hexahydrate, copper(II)sulfate pentahydrate, palladium(II)chloride, aluminium(III)chloride hexahydrate, gold(I)sodium thiosulfate dehydrate, tin and nickel(II)sulfate hexahydrate. The main metal allergens for students of dental medicine were cobalt(II)chloride hexahydrate, gold(I)sodium thiosulfate dehydrate, nickel(II)sulfate hexahydrate and potassium dichromate; for students from the dental technician schoolcobalt(II)chloride hexahydrate, nickel(II)sulfate hexahydrate and gold (I)sodium thiosulfate dehydrate; for dental professionalscobalt(II)chloride hexahydrate, palladium (II)chloride and nickel(II)sulfate hexahydrate, and for dental patientscobalt(II)chloride hexahydrate, nickel(II)sulfate hexahydrate and copper(II)sulfate pentahydrate. There was a significantly higher incidence of sensitization to potassium dichromate (x 2 = 10.497, p = 0.012), palladium(II)chloride (x 2 = 5.381, p = 0.02) and gold(I)sodium thiosulfate dehydrate (x 2 = 6.347, p = 0.018) in the group of students of dental medicine. Our findings confirm the importance of cobalt (II)chloride hexahydrate as contact sensitizer for all the studied groups. Students of dental medicine could be defined as a group of particular risk of contact sensitization with metals. We recommend that knowledge on the sensitizing properties of metals be provided at the very beginning of the course of practical education in dentistry, together with application of adequate preventive measures.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.