Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Background: Allergic contact cheilitis may appear after exposure to different substances, including dental materials, toothpastes, cosmetics, foods and medications.
Objective: To compare the rate of toothpaste allergy between patients with and without cheilitis and to examine the yield of our proposed toothpaste patch test kit for use in patients with cheilitis.
Methods: A patch test kit containing 11 substances used in toothpastes was formed. The study sample consisted of 44 patients, 24 with cheilitis (study group) and 20 with contact dermatitis but without cheilitis (control group).
Results: Eleven patients in the study group (45%) were found to be allergic to toothpaste, compared to only one patient (5%) in the control group (p < .05).
Conclusion: The rate of toothpaste allergy among patients with cheilitis might be higher than previously reported. Patch-testing with our toothpaste series is recommended in the evaluation of cheilitis.
Introduction
Cheilitis is an inflammation of the lips and the vermilion. Many allergens may cause cheilitis, including cosmetics (particularly lipsticks), sunscreen agents, toothpastes, medications, foods, and dental material.[1,2,3] The literature regarding toothpaste allergic contact cheilitis is relatively scarce,[4] and the subject had never been investigated in Israel.
The main substances in toothpastes that may cause contact dermatitis are flavorings (such as cinnamon and peppermint), fragrances, and preservatives.[2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17] The exact prevalence of toothpaste allergic contact cheilitis is not known. Lim and colleagues found that 5 of 27 patients with cheilitis (18.5%) were allergic to toothpaste,[18] and Francalaci and colleagues found 13 of 54 cheilitis patients (24%) to be sensitive to at least one component of toothpastes.[4]
Cheilitis may cause discomfort to patients, and its specific cause often remains unknown.[3,19] Researchers have suggested that an undiagnosed allergy may cause cheilitis in some patients,[1,19] and that allergy to toothpaste is an underestimated cause of cheilitis.[4,7,9,11]
The present study had two main goals: (1) to determine the prevalence of toothpaste allergy among patients with cheilitis in Israel and (2) to examine the yield of a new toothpaste patch test kit formulated by our department on the basis of earlier studies[1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,20] and our experience.
Dermatitis. 2009;20(2):95-98. © 2009 American Contact Dermatitis Society
Cite this: Toothpaste Allergy as a Cause of Cheilitis in Israeli Patients - Medscape - Mar 01, 2009.
