I would like to comment on Dr. Marc Cohen’s June JADA article, "Making Fixed Provisional Restorations for Patients Hypersensitive to Acrylic Resin." The technique presented in the article works, but here is a simpler technique that was presented in the literature years ago.1,2
The dentist can construct the fixed provisional prosthesis out of acrylic, even using the powder and liquid, on a laboratory model. Then the hardened acrylic prosthesis should be placed in the autoclave or even placed in water for 36 hours. Both of these procedures will extract the residual monomer from the resin. It is the residual monomer that is the sensitivizing agent. This technique will work even if the patient has had a reaction to the monomer, and the dentist did not know of the allergy. Simply remove the prosthesis, drive off the monomer and recement it.
Also, while taking a history, one can ask whether the patient is allergic to fingernail extension kits. The monomer in those is the same as that used in dentistry. One can identify a true allergic reaction to the resin if it starts 24 hours or later after the restoration is placed. A reaction in the earlier hours, or almost immediately, would be a burn from the monomer, rather than a hypersensitivity reaction.
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