Contact allergy to (meth)acrylates in the dental series in southern Sweden: simultaneous positive patch test reaction patterns and possible screening allergens

Contact allergy to dental allergens is a well-studied subject, more so among dental professionals than dental patients. 1632 subjects had been patch tested to either the dental patient series or dental personnel series at the department of Occupational and Environmental Dermatology, Malmo, Sweden. Positive patch tests to (meth)acrylate allergens were seen in 2.3% (30/1322) of the dental patients and 5.8% (18/310) of the dental personnel. The most common allergen for both groups was 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (2-HEMA), followed by ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate, and methyl methacrylate. 47 (29 dental patients and 18 dental personnel) out of these 48 had positive patch tests to 2-HEMA. All 30 subjects who had a positive reaction to EGDMA had a simultaneous positive reaction to 2-HEMA. One dental patient reacted only to 2,2-bis[4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloxypropoxy) phenyl]propane (bis-GMA). From our data, screening for (meth)acrylate contact allergy with 2-HEMA alone would have picked up 96.7% (29/30) of our (meth)acrylate-allergic dental patients and 100% (18/18) of our (meth)acrylate-allergic dental personnel. The addition of bis-GMA in dental patients would increase the pick-up rate to 100%.