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There are concerns tonight that the lead found in Chinese toys may also be showing up in implants, crowns and dentures from China and India. The imports aren’t strictly regulated and have made some people sick. There are no laws requiring dentist to tell you where they buy the products, but as Whitney Ray tells us, Florida lawmakers are pushing for full disclosure.

Hear it here: Lawmakers Fight Lead Implants

Philip Twelves doesn’t know where his tooth implant came from.

“They just said it was porcelain, I really don’t recall if they said where it was manufactured,” said Twelves.

The story is the same for Owen Hardin

“I’ve never asked, but I have wondered,” Owen said.

A trip to the dentist is scary enough. Then add the fear of lead poisoning. Some implants coming from overseas are contaminated. Dental Technician and President Elect of The Florida Dental Laboratory Associate Buddy Wester follows strict regulations when building implants or molding partials. He says overseas labs don’t have the same regulations.

“If the restoration comes in from overseas, and it has some type of hazardous material unbeknownst to the dentist and the patient and the patient become ill, then there’s no way to track that restoration,” said Wester.

While there aren’t any reported cases of this kind of dangerous dental work being done in Florida, Nationwide overseas implants have made people sick. The cases stem from lead based dental work. Lead is strictly prohibited in domestic dental labs. The internet if full of sites showing dentists how to make big profits.
Lawmakers fear dentists are looking overseas to cut costs. One proposal would require labs and dentists to tell patients what materials are going into their mouths.