The national survey of adverse reactions to dental materials in the UK: a preliminary study by the UK Adverse Reactions Reporting Project

The Adverse Reactions Reporting Project for dental materials has shown that adverse reactions to dental materials occur across the UK and that these involve both dental professionals and patients.Nobody is immune from the possibility of experiencing an adverse reaction to a dental material. Although the number of cases reported so far may be small, there is a need to continue to raise the awareness among dental professionals of the existence of the Adverse Reactions Reporting Project so as to overcome problems of under-reporting.It is only with the full support of dental practitioners that we can build up a true picture of the extent and severity of adverse reactions to dental materials.The project would allow us over time to show trends and thus develop an early warning system as regards any materials that present with the high incidence of adverse reactions. For example, an early warning system may have detected problems with the wearing of powdered latex gloves at a much earlier stage.