Patch test results in dental staff with dermatitis.

Abstract

Dental workers are exposed to allergenic materials in the workplace. To summarize patch test results in dental staff with work-related dermatitis. Cross-sectional study of dental staff with dermatitis was conducted. Symptoms, clinical findings and results from patch tests with 40 dental allergens were summarized. Of 329 participants, 155 (47.1%) had at least one positive patch reaction. The highest frequency of positive reactions was observed for metals (38.6%), acrylics (7.3%) and additives in acrylic resins (3.6%). One hundred and eighty-five (56.2%) participants were currently symptomatic; in this group, 79 (42.7%) had current dermatitis. Thirty-eight patients had at least one positive patch test considered occupationally related to their current dermatitis. Almost half of the dental staff with dermatitis had at least one positive patch test and approximately 12% had current occupational relevance of the allergens. Our results underscore the importance of patch testing in the evaluation of dental staff with dermatitis.