Denture Cream Zinc Poisoning Class Action in Canada

September 19, 2010, 11:00AM. By Gordon Gibb

Victoria, BCImagine you are blessed with good health—the kind of health that allows you to work 12-hour days on top of running, or jogging and maintaining your fitness well into middle age. Then one day, allegedly due to Fixodent denture adhesive, you can't talk, you can no longer walk. "It happened at work," Amanda Davies, from Victoria BC, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). "I lost all use of my voice and my limbs, couldn't walk or talk. It was actually like having a stroke."

Davies, 51, is a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed this month in Canada's westernmost province alleging that the manufacturers of denture creams failed to adequately warn consumers that excessive use of the product could cause zinc poisoning. This happens when a high intake of zinc upsets the required balance of zinc and copper needed for optimum health. The subsequent depletion of copper in the body can lead to severe neurological symptoms.

The class action lawsuit in Canada comes on the heels of lawsuits in the US making similar allegations about denture cream zinc poisoning. While manufacturers are required to list the presence of zinc on product labels, there is no mandated requirement to specify the levels of zinc contained within. What's more, while manufacturers identify recommended usage amounts it is alleged that there were no warnings regarding the potential risks or consequences of using too much product.

Consumers tend to assume more is better when it comes to denture cream, in order to avoid potentially embarrassing slippage of dentures. What's more, people with ill-fitting dentures who can't afford to have them updated tend to use massive amounts of denture cream to keep them in place.

Davies, in Victoria, alleges that her use of Fixodent denture cream led to tremors, seizures and temporary paralysis. She told the CBC that she still uses denture cream, but in smaller amounts—and she is looking for an alternative product to ensure she is never again affect by Fixodent zinc poisoning.

One of the manufacturers named in the class action lawsuit, GlaxoSmithKline, stopped making denture cream containing zinc last February after a spate of lawsuits in the US began sprouting. Zinc is added to the cream to aid with adhesion. The manufacturer warned at the time that excessive intake of zinc can cause numbness, tingling or difficulty walking.

Proctor & Gamble, which is also named as a defendant in the class action lawsuit, is being lobbied to stop manufacturing denture cream containing zinc as well.

The lawyer acting for Davies says he has been contacted by several hundred people allegedly affected by denture cream zinc poisoning. He estimates that there could be thousands similarly affected.