Young People use Denture Cream Too

August 6th, 2009. By janem

Everyone associates dentures with old age, but many young people lose their teeth for various reasons, from sports injuries to cosmetic concerns to fisti-cuffs. According to AFFORDABLE DENTURES®, denture demand is expected to boom, and with it, denture cream.

For example, the Charleston Gazette reported that 21-year-old Todd Joseph had broken his upper denture and it didn’t fit right. Joseph said his four front teeth got knocked out after a robber struck him with a baseball bat. AFFORDABLE DENTURES®  fixed him up with a new upper denture for $140. (The Gazette said the denture clinic was very busy: “patients were coming and going”.)

Young people may be more self-conscious about wearing a denture or partial denture than older folks and likely concerned that their denture may not stay in place (and it may not fit properly). So what do they do? Chances are, wear more denture cream, and herein lies the problem: Zinc overdose.

Marianne Chapman, a 31-year-old from Florida is suing Procter & Gamble, the company that makes Fixodent denture adhesive cream, alleging she suffered and continues to suffer injuries including zinc poisoning and neurological damages. She said her dentures haven’t fit properly since 2001. Her advice: “Be very careful [with denture cream], make sure you don’t use a lot of it.” How many young people, especially guys like Joseph, are going to be “very careful”?

And how much is a lot? A study in Neurology reports that some people who used denture cream were exposed to at least 330 milligrams of zinc daily-the maximum daily allowance is 40 milligrams. Hence denture cream lawsuits.

Tags: denture cream

This was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 3:04 pm and is filed under Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.