An in vivo comparison was made between the contact allergic
stomatitis-inducing capacity of
nickel,
nickel-containing
dental alloys and a non-
corrosive precious
metal. Fifteen patients with a positive allergic skin reaction to
nickel were divided into 3 groups (A, B and C). The patients in Group A (n = 4) were fitted with an intra-oral corrosion-resistant
nickel-
chromium Alloy A; the patients of Group B (n = 5) received a more corrosion prone
nickel-
chromium Alloy B and in Group C (n = 6) strongly corroding pure
nickel was used. A corrosion-resistant foil of pure
palladium was placed on the contralateral side. Reactivity of pure
nickel foil was also tested on the skin in Group C. Immunohistological examination of the oral mucosa on the test and reference sides was performed with
monoclonal antibodies directed against T-lymphocyte subsets and Langerhans cells (LC). The results showed that at the pure
nickel site the LC did increase significantly in the connective tissue (approx. 4X) of the oral mucosa. However, statistical analysis of all 6 patients of Group C together showed no corresponding increase of LC in the epithelium at the site with the pure
nickel, although a numerical increase of LC was noted in the epithelium adjacent to the pure
nickel foil in 2 patients, which was remarkable. It can be concluded from statistical analysis that both the reference foils and the test foils can influence the number of suppressor/cytotoxic T-lymphocytes in the connective tissue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)