Denture Cream Zinc Poisoning Difficult to Diagnose

Baltimore, MDPeople who use denture cream, such as Fixodent denture adhesive might think that their biggest concern should be whether or not their dentures stay in place. Unfortunately, some consumers are learning that use of too much Fixodent denture cream can result in denture cream zinc poisoning. That, in turn, can lead to a copper deficiency, which can be a very serious condition.

And, as at least one article notes, it can be very difficult to diagnose.

The New York Times (September 2, 2009) gives an insightful look into how difficult it can be to diagnose zinc poisoning related to denture cream use. The subject of the article, a 64-year-old woman, had been through test after test to try to determine what was causing her medical problems. She told her doctor that she was "too weak to walk and almost too tired to care." She had weak legs and numb feet—the only feeling in her feet was a pins and needles sensation. Before she saw the doctor who finally diagnosed her, the woman had fallen and broken her ankle and was now confined to a wheelchair.

The woman was tested for West Nile Virus, cancer and vitamin B12 deficiency. Luckily, a neurologist had ordered some tests prior to an MRI, so the doctor was able to diagnose that she was severely copper deficient and had abnormally high levels of zinc.

The doctor finally realized that the woman's denture cream might be the culprit. Her dentures did not fit properly and she was going through five or six tubes of denture cream a week, when one tube is meant to last a month or more.

The woman has not fully recovered since her ordeal. She still has difficulty walking, but her blood count is back to normal and she is no longer suffers the same levels of fatigue.

Part of the problem with determining that a problem is linked to denture cream is that it is used daily and it can take a long time to develop zinc poisoning and the related copper deficiency. So, by the time the symptoms of copper deficiency develop, a person may no longer associate the use of denture cream with the problem.

Furthermore, not a lot is known about denture cream and its link to copper deficiency. As the doctor in The New York Times article notes, there are only three published reports of zinc toxicity as it relates to denture adhesive, so many doctors may have no idea the problem exists. Meanwhile, patients may feel they are doing the right thing by using extra denture cream to hold loose fitting dentures in place, when in fact they may be causing more harm.