titanium reaction

[phyllis1958]

After breaking his arm my son had a titanium screw  put in his shoulder, his shoulder is now swollen and very painfull
The Doctor said he may have a reaction to the titanium screw, Has anyone else had this problem.

[jejan]

Is there an alternative metal for shoulder replacement? I need definitive treatment for my  shoulder.I had rotator cuff tear and repair about 14 years ago and now my shoulders have been hurting and there is limited ROM. Is there an alternative Rx? Zuby

[Dr_Aparna]

Hi,
I am quoting from an article regarding Titanium allergy.
There does not seem to be any proven reported incidence of true titanium allergy in the dental implantation literature. An exhaustive search of the literature has revealed three publications dealing with true documented titanium allergy.1-3However, numerous publications in the orthodontic, ortho-paedic, ophthalmic and dermatological literature deal with hypersensitivity reactions to various materials, including titanium oxide in particular.4-8 Contact dermatitis due to tita-nium has been reported extensively and appears to be quite common.
Six titanium implants were placed in the mandible between the left and right mental foramen of a 49-year old female patient. The implants were all constructed of the same grade IV titanium. Three types of implants were used, namely LIBB compression implant, cylindrical implant and Brånemark-like implant. These three types of implants were placed as part of a research project, which received approval from the ethics committee. The patient developed a severe reaction to all the implant units, with both clinical and radiological features of complication. The localised tissue reaction was severe enough to warrant removal of all the implants. The surrounding soft tissue was submitted for histological analy-sis, which revealed a chronic inflammatory response with concomitant fibrosis around all the implants as well as for-eign body giant cell reaction around two implants. Following implant removal the patient recuperated well and the soft and hard tissue healed satisfactorily.
ref:www.up.ac.za/dspace/bitstream/2263/4623/1/DuPreez_Implant(2007).pdf -
Other cases too are documented which shows that a small number of people are allergic to Titanium though it is supposed to be a hypo-allergenic metal.