Biocompatibility in Cosmetic Dentistry

Some cosmetic dentistry procedures have come a long way from its difficult beginnings. For instance, it took dental implant developers over 40 years of research and testing before corporations felt confident enough to invest in the promotion of the procedure. Despite their invention in the 1920s, dental veneers only started to be a common dentistry solution in the 1980s when a safe method to securely bond porcelain to enamel was developed.

These delays were mainly due to uncertainties on the safety of cosmetic dentistry products. Attaching synthetic materials to living tissues can pose various risks, including systemic toxic responses. Thus, it is only appropriate to validate each material’s safety and prove its biocompatibility before it can gain acceptance in the medical community.

Biocompatibility refers to a material’s property of having benign effects on living tissue, that is, it will not cause injury or bodily rejection in humans. In restorative dentistry, biocompatibility is measured or determined by the absence of toxic, leachable, or diffusible substance that can later spawn infections or diseases

Some dental restorative materials today are under scrutiny for possibly being non-biocompatible. As there has been no official restrictions on these, it falls on patients to keep themselves informed and make wise decisions based on what they know. Going to a reliable dentist who adheres to a holistic approach is a good way to ensure only biocompatible products will be used in treatments.