LONGECITY

I have had a fixed retainer with bonded metal wires for about 7 years now, and I was thinking, is it possible that some metals are leaching from the braces and possibly exposing me to heavy metals? Most permanent retainers are made of stainless steel, which is an alloy of atleast 10.5% chromium with varying degrees of nickel, iron, copper, and sometimes other metals. Also, stainless steel is rarely used in food storage, because being covered by food or moisture can cause it to corrode.

Is it possible that by having a fixed retainer bonded to my teeth at all times, I am always being poisoned with heavy metals?

Bump. I have the same question. I'm a little late, but I wonder if anyone has any response to this.

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I doubt very much that it's a problem. Stainless steel doesn't contain anything grotesquely toxic. Most of what it contains is also found in the typical multivitamin. Because it has a tightly adhering layer of chromium oxide, it is very corrosion resistant, although it's possible to get some corrosion. Because you have such a small amount of stainless steel in your mouth, I doubt very much that you could get enough metal ions to be a problem, considering that you need milligrams of iron daily, and a tenth of a milligram of chromium. If your retainer was corroding enough to provide you the RDA of these metals, if wouldn't be there any more.

Stainless steel is used in food storage. I'm not sure how much, but I wouldn't have characterized it as 'rarely'.

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Awesome. Thanks for the reply niner!