Zinc Poisoning

The zinc in denture creams is the reason products such as Super Poligrip and Fixodent can be so damaging to your health. Exposure to excessive amounts of zinc can cause the levels of copper in your body to drop. If not corrected, copper deficiency will cause symptoms of neuropathy, a nerve disorder that can be severely disabling. Without intervention, zinc poisoning can even lead to death.

In August 2008, the journal “Neurology” reported on four patients suffering from neuropathy and other neurological symptoms typical of zinc poisoning and copper deficiency. It was determined that excess use of dental creams could have been responsible for their symptoms. The article noted that one tube of denture cream should last 3 to 10 weeks,  but patients in the report were all using at least two tubes a week. Three had also lost their teeth at a relatively young age, meaning they had  used “extremely large amounts of denture adhesive daily for years.”

Blood tests revealed that all of the subjects suffered from excessive zinc and insufficient copper levels. In a couple of cases, patients who took copper supplements and/or stopped using denture cream had improved copper and zinc levels. But only two patients showed “mild neurological improvement” after they began the supplements and stopped using denture creams, while the others had no improvement whatsoever.