There are various dental treatments that can help a person boost their self-confidence and self-esteem by improving the appearance of their smile. There are some cases, however, where the procedure ends in failure and leaves a person more conscious about their looks. In the UK, a woman's dream smile turned into a nightmare after suffering from a horrific allergic reaction to her new dental veneers.

Dental Treatment Gone Wrong

Throughout her entire life, Lily Lindsay, a 29-year-old woman from Aberdeenshire, had been self-conscious about her smile. After seeing TikTok influencers getting dental veneers, she decided to get one in preparation for her best friend's upcoming wedding.

In August 2022, Lily booked an appointment with a top dentist and paid $1,200 (£1,000) for dental composite veneers. At first, she was very pleased with the result, but it was only after two weeks when she started to suffer from unpleasant symptoms. The manifestations began with Hay Fever-like itchiness, red eyes, and dry lips and skin. These symptoms quickly spread across her body and left her with painful sores which looked like "elephant skin."

The young woman works as a document controller; and as a result of the debilitating allergic reaction, she became depressed and turned into solitude. Since no doctor could help her, Lily ended up on anti-depressants.

A doctor who thought that she may be experiencing dermatitis gave her a cream typically used for rosacea. She was also told to avoid anything that contains sodium lauryl sulfate, so she stopped using her regular cleanser and started to use the prescribed cream.

Still, nothing seemed to work and Lily was advised that she might be experiencing eczema. She was prescribed steroid cream which started to clear her skin, but the symptoms returned after a month. The thick red blotches in her face spread down to the rest of her body, the worst of which was in her underarms.

Lily was patch-tested for 100 different allergens by a private dermatologist, but none of them came up as bad as the reaction she was experiencing. By January 2023, her allergic reaction began to affect her immune system, making her experience ringing ears, dizziness, and black spots in her vision. A blood test was conducted which revealed that the inflammation was inside her body and not on her skin.

Realizing that her reaction started two weeks after her dental treatment, she went back to her dentist who removed the veneers on April 24. Her face had cleared up completely by mid-May, allowing her to attend her friend's wedding on June 17 with no problems at all.

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Can Veneers Cause Allergic Reaction?

Dental veneers are custom-made shells which fit over the front surfaces of the teeth. They are designed to conceal gaps, chips, cracks, stains, and other aesthetic imperfections. In creating these coverings, technicians use high-quality dental materials such as tooth-colored composite or porcelain.

According to healthcare expert Dr. Helen Evans-Howells, it is possible to develop an allergic reaction to composite veneers. These reactions can be triggered by the resin used in creating these products. Resin could trigger contact dermatitis which is caused by a delayed allergic reaction. This could show as irritation at the site of the veneers or mouth ulcers. In some cases, eczema or eye swelling can also occur.

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Check out more news and information on Allergic Reactions in Science Times.