Fibrous ceramic aluminum silicate as an alternative to asbestos liners.

The actual risk to those exposed to asbestos fibers in the dental laboratory is presently unknown. The ADA Council on Dental Materials and Devices and ADA Council on Dental Therapeutics have received encouragement from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct further studies, including monitoring airborne asbestos in dental laboratories. It has been suggested that no really safe threshold limit exists for airborne asbestos fibers. Low level asbestos exposure has been implicated in numerous serious diseases. Exposures as brief as 1 month have produced disease many years later. Numerous researchers have advocated the use of a safer material. Casting ring liners compound of currently available fibrous ceramic aluminum silicate are technically adequate substitutes for asbestos.