Genotoxicity of dental materials.

This study was performed to characterize the (possible) DNA-damaging properties of dental materials and to identify specific compounds that contribute to this genotoxicity. For screening, three tests that assay for different aspects of genotoxicity (i) the bacterial umu-test; (ii) the eucaryotic DNA synthesis inhibition test; and (iii) the in vivo alkaline filter elution technique were chosen. This investigation gives several lines of evidence that most dental materials tested (14 chemical monosubstances present in dental devices and 7 extracts of dental materials) yield 'positive' results in at least one of the genotoxicity tests, however, with effects ranging from 'borderline' to 'strong positive'. The extracts of the widely used dental materials Vitrebond and AH26 elicited clear concentration-related genotoxic responses in all test systems. On the basis of these data and public concern, more attention has to be given to local or systemic complications which may be associated with the use of dental materials.