What's My Case Worth?
You've been injured and you need answers. Get our dedicated team on your side today.
Practice Areas
When you are injured it’s a stressful time, especially when the injuries are the result of another person’s negligence or actions. At Hughes and Coleman, our job is to help those who have been injured in Kentucky or Tennessee.
With more than a million people residing in the two states, residents of Kentucky and Tennessee are exposed to a multitude of potential accidents. Freeways, highways, and city streets pose a daily threat to residents. As the traffic grows so do the number of motor vehicle accidents.
The following is a list of practice areas in which the attorneys at Hughes and Coleman are experienced and proven. Click on an area to discover a wealth of information on each topic. If you have been affected by any of the following, contact Hughes and Coleman Injury Lawyers today for a free consultation.
Denture Cream
More than 35 million people in the United States wear dentures. Research indicates that several types of denture adhesive products, including PoliGrip, Super PoliGrip, and Fixodent, contained the mineral zinc. Recently, doctors established a link between denture adhesives and nerve damage.
The body requires small amounts of zinc to stay healthy but too much can cause copper depletion, and over a prolonged period of time it can lead to zinc poisoning.
Denture adhesive manufacturers including GlaxoSmithKline and Procter & Gamble did not disclose the potential health risks associated with these products. As a result denture wearers using these products were unaware of link between denture adhesives and neuropathy.
Denture cream manufacturers should be held accountable because they failed to warn consumers that their products could be toxic and they failed to create a product that was safe.
The manufacturer of PoliGrip stopped selling Super PoliGrip Original, Ultra Care and Ultra Fresh denture adhesive creams, which have been replaced with products that do not contain zinc because of the health concerns.
Denture Cream and Neuropathy Side Effects
According to a report published in a leading medical journal, a significant number of denture cream users have suffered abnormally high levels of zinc and significantly low levels of copper in their bloodstreams after using denture adhesives.
Large amounts of zinc, combined with a lack of copper, will upset the body’s balance, and that directly affects neurological health. Denture creams such as PoliGrip and Fixodent used zinc, as an odor blocker and bonding agent, however, zinc can be absorbed through the gums leading to neuropathy.
There are over 100 different types of neuropathy; however, peripheral neuropathy is the most common, and occurs when nerves are damaged. This disrupts the body’s ability to communicate with organs, joints, muscles, and skin.
Symptoms of neuropathy include:
| • Abnormal sensations | • Inability to hold objects | • Tingling or numbness in the extremities | • Loss of balance |
| • Foot pain | • Heavy feeling in legs | • Hypocupremia – mental retardation |
Denture Cream & Studies
Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center compiled information from a number of academic and medical sources, and had their findings published in the summer of 2008 in the Neurology journal. The research team found that a number of patients using denture adhesive such as PoliGrip and Fixodent, developed neuropathy symptoms and/or other neurological symptoms. The problem was acute in people who use a lot of denture cream, as is the case with poorly fitting dentures.
This study of zinc overdose reached the following conclusion: Denture cream contains zinc, and chronic excessive use may result in a copper deficiency, and intense neurological disease. While stopping the use of denture cream with zinc results in improvement of zinc levels in the blood of most patients, this improvement resulted in only mild neurological improvement in half the patients studied. Some patients saw improvement when a copper supplement was given in combination with stopping the use of denture creams PoliGrip or Fixodent.
Our Defective Medical Device Lawyers Can Help
If you or someone you know has been affected by a drug injury, Hughes & Coleman wants to help. We help people nationwide get the compensation they deserve. Contact us today.
Cases likely to be referred.
