Titanium allergy: fact or fiction?

Abstract

Titanium is well suited to implantology: it is naturally abundant, readily machined, shows up well on dental radiographs and, perhaps most importantly, it is biocompatable with human tissue. However, the dental literature suggests that metal sensitivity may occur after exposure to titanium dental implants. The prevalence of such cases is likely to increase and, although allergies represent the most frequent chronic diseases in Europe today, affecting the daily lives of more than 60 million people, the role of titanium as a potential allergen is under-investigated. With this in mind, this paper seeks to review the literature to investigate if titanium in dental implants can induce clinically relevant hypersensitivity reactions.