Biodegradation of nickel and chromium from space maintainers: an in vitro study.

Band materials are often used in the practice of pediatric dentistry. Nickel and Chromium are the main ingredients of these materials. The potential health hazards of nickel and chromium and their compounds have been the focus of attention for more than 100 years. It has established that these metals could cause hypersensitivity. The study was undertaken to analyze in vitro biodegradation of space maintainers made out of stainless steel band materials from manufacturers Dentaurum and Unitek. The leaching effect simulating the use of one, two, three, and four space maintainers in clinical practice was studied by keeping the respective number of space maintainers in the artificial saliva incubating at 37 degrees C and analyzing for nickel and chromium release after 1,7,14,21 and 28 days using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Results showed that there was measurable release of both nickel and chromium which reached maximum level at the end of 7 days which was statistically significant (P < 0.05) and was very much below the dietary average intake even for four bands used and was not capable of causing any toxicity.