Bioacumulación de níquel en encía, saliva y hueso alveolar de paciente con aparatología ortodóncica fija: reporte de un caso

Abstract

A case is reported of a 28-year-old female patient, with active orthodontic treatment, who was treated in the dental practice for aesthetic reasons. The diagnosis was gingival overgrowth, induced by orthodontic treatment, and maxillary exostosis. The treatment consisted of periodontal cosmetic surgery and removing the exostosis. During surgery, samples of gingiva, saliva and alveolar bone were obtained. Before take the samples, the patient signed an informed consent. Nickel concentrations in ng/mL were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The mean nickel concentration in the samples were: 986.4 ng/ml in saliva, 779.5 ng/ml in alveolar bone, and 620.5 ng/ml in the case of gingiva. The high accumulation of nickel observed in each sample type is of particular interest because exposure to metals contained in orthodontic appliances is currently an important public health problem in dentistry.