About Asbestos: An Overview

The term “asbestos” is Latin for “pure, incorruptible” and this substance consists of naturally occurring fibers that are found in rocks and in soil. Asbestos is actually a summative term to describe six minerals: chrysotile (serpentine asbestos), actinolite asbestos, amosite (asbestos cummingtonite-grunerite), anthophyl-lite asbestos, crocidolite (asbestos riebeckite), and tremolite asbestos. Collectively, these strands are referred to as “asbestos.” Well-known to be fire-resistant, durable, and pliable, the minerals have had many uses over the years – including use dating back to ancient times.

Asbestos was used in thousands of products.

As more and more people were reporting health problems they believed to be linked to these fibers, however, U.S. regulators began to work hard to ban asbestos, and they were eventually successful in 1989. The government continues to warn consumers that other countries still use asbestos in their products and, occasionally, these are leaked into the U.S. Some of the most commonly imported goods that run the risk of containing asbestos include art supplies, clay pottery, and makeup.

Buildings constructed before the ban are also likely to contain it. This is not necessarily dangerous unless these older buildings are demoed, and fibers become airborne. This can lead to the ingestion of asbestos and subsequent issues. Many business owners have opted to forgo renovations to save the cost of remediation. This means that occupants could be sharing space with asbestos unbeknownst to them.

Dentistry and Asbestos: What’s the connection?

Many people automatically think of industrial projects when they consider how asbestos has been used in the workforce. It’s relatively common knowledge that this substance was used for years as insulation, and in other building finishes inside and out. There’s a lot of publicity when it comes to asbestos use in construction because many older buildings are at the point of needing to be updated and precautions must be taken to prevent exposure. 

Moreover, families have been vocal with their concerns that asbestos could be present in older buildings at their kids’ schools. Some state leaders have even begun to test for the potential of asbestos-contaminated water in these schools.

Dental exposure to asbestos is less well known.

However, many people are unaware of just how prevalent asbestos use has been in traditional dentistry. Yes, that’s right. Dentistry has long been on the list of high-risk careers when it comes to asbestos exposure. This is because – believe it or not – many of the products dentists have used over the years contained asbestos. This may seem absurd given that patients schedule appointments to have their dentists work in their mouths and asbestos is dangerous when ingested. But, for many years, this did not deter the industry from performing work with asbestos-ladened tools.

Because of the use of asbestos in a wide range of dental products, this begs the question whether dentists themselves were at risk. And, while there has been some mixed data on the subject – with some researchers saying they’re at an increased risk of developing health problems while others contending they’re not – many dentists have gotten sick after years of asbestos use on the job. It was banned in dentistry in the 1970s, but that still left room for issues from prior exposure.

Many dentists developed asbestos illnesses from asbestos dental products like casting and tape.

There have been many reported cases of dentists contracting  pleural mesothelioma, for example, due to dental lining tape. Malignant pleural mesothelioma is the most common type of the deadly cancer and is almost always caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. The malignant tumors start in the pleural tissue surrounding the lungs.

Dentists have also suffered from non-malignant chronic lung conditions including COPD, asthma, and emphysema, as well as lung and other types of cancers. While not all cases have been definitively traced back to their occupation, it’s a likely link. It’s just that most of these diseases do not show up immediately so it’s difficult to determine with 100-percent certainty that dental products were the cause. In fact, it can take ten to sixty years for symptoms to appear!

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Dental Products Containing Asbestos

Historically, dentists and dental assistants worked with asbestos-containing products in small, unventilated rooms. When asbestos dust was released into the air, such as when drilling work needed to be done, it could have easily been inhaled. Near-daily exposure to this dust, even with the low levels of asbestos found in dental equipment, could have caused health problems down the road.

Here are some ways in which asbestos was traditionally used in the dental field:

  • Lost-wax casting (i.e, dental casting): The inner lining of the casting cylinder contained asbestos in the forty-year span from the 1930s to at least the 1970s and this was used in the lost-wax method of casting crowns, bridges, and other metal prosthetic devices.
  • Dental tape: Although not a commonly used product, in general, this tape was sometimes used for crafting casting rings.
  • Periodontal dressings: Asbestos acted as a binder in these dressings.
  • Casting cylinders: Asbestos was present in the coating of the cylinders.

While the risk of asbestos exposure in dentistry has been said to be confined to the 1930s through the 1970s, those who worked in the industry during this time are still at risk of developing health conditions. Cases of both malignant and non-malignant diseases in the dental field have already been reported and more are likely to follow.

AsbestosClaims.Law

AsbestosClaims.law is your comprehensive resource for all things asbestos. We hope this information is helpful.

If you have any additional questions or concerns related to asbestos, check out our website and YouTube page for videos, infographics and answers to your questions about asbestos, including health and safety, asbestos testing, removing asbestos from your home and building, and legal information about compensation for asbestos injuries.

And if you believe that you were exposed to asbestos, or have been diagnosed with an asbestos illness, you could be entitled to significant compensation—money you could use to cover the costs of asbestos removal services, pay for medical treatment, and preemptively protect your physical well-being. 

All without filing a lawsuit.

If you’d like help with filing a claim, please get in touch by email at [email protected], or call or text us at (833) 4-ASBESTOS (427-2378) or (206) 455-9190. We’ll listen to your story and explain your options. And we never charge for anything unless you receive money in your pocket.

A. Michael Ierardi, Claire Mathis, Ania Urban, Neva Jacobs, Brent Finley & Shannon Gaffney (2021) Potential airborne asbestos exposures in dentistry: a comprehensive review and risk assessment, Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 51:4, 301-327, DOI: 10.1080/10408444.2021.1910624
Anaya-Aguilar C, Bravo M, Magan-Fernandez A, Del Castillo-Salmerón R, Rodríguez-Archilla A, Montero J, Rosel E, Puche P, Anaya-Aguilar R. Prevention of Occupational Hazards Due to Asbestos Exposure in Dentistry. A Proposal from a Panel of Experts. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 8;19(6):3153. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19063153. PMID: 35328844; PMCID: PMC8955252.