Heavy metals and pain in the dysfunctional patient
Authors
C. Di Paolo, E. Serritella , F. Panti , G. Falisi , F. Manna
Abstract
Aims. The aim of this research is to verify the quality and quantity of heavy metals (HM) of dental origin in TMD patients. Methods. A population of 100 subject was studied and divided in two homogeneous groups: Study Group (SG) and Control Group (CG). Organism heavy metals were tested by a spot sampling method in which the first urine of the day, through Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), were analyzed. The results obtained were compared with reference values (RV) of Italian people. Descriptive statistical analysis and student's t-test has been applied (statistical significance for p > 0.05).
Results. The SG presented the absolute highest levels of HM compared to the CG (p=0.787). As regards the relation between pain and HM, the subjects that refer “severe/very severe” values of pain present the highest levels of HM in urines.
Conclusions. The obtained results seem to highlight a possible direct proportionality between the level of pain the increase of the concentration of heavy metals in all the examined groups and subgroups.
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