Dentistry installed metals for a century because they were strong and workable: gold crowns, nickel frameworks, titanium posts, mercury amalgam. Each choice made sense alone. Stacked in one mouth, dissimilar metals in saliva form a battery, and measurable galvanic currents can run between them. Sensitive patients sometimes report a metallic taste or oral burning; most notice nothing while the chemistry runs anyway.
Ion release is the quieter issue. Titanium can shed ions into surrounding tissue over years, and nickel, a common allergen, sits in plenty of older dental work. Patients with metal sensitivities elsewhere (jewelry, watch backs) carry the same immune system into the dental chair.
Testing instead of guessing
Material biocompatibility testing reads your reactivity against proposed dental materials before anything gets placed. For patients with autoimmune conditions or known sensitivities, testing turns material selection from a default into a decision.
Metal-free dentistry at Natural Smiles
Implants here are zirconia ceramic, never titanium. Crowns and bridges run zirconia or ceramic. Fillings are BPA-free composite. Amalgam comes out under the IAOMT SMART protocol. A patient can get a full-arch reconstruction in our St. Petersburg office without a milligram of metal entering the plan.