I saw some early posts/questions regarding lichen planus and amalgam. My diagnosis 10 years ago was lichen planus, which began shortly after I broke a tooth and needed a filling replaced. That diagnosis changed not quite a year ago when allergy testing was suggested by my skin specialist. The very first patches placed on my back were a "dental tray," to which I reacted strongly. Followup for my allergies to nickel, mercury and cobalt, included following a low nickel diet, and proceeding with removal of the metal from my mouth.

Halfway through the amalgam replacement, the red spots, now considered contact dermatitis, because the sore spots laid against a filling and the metal base of a (molar) crown, became SCC. About the same time that it changed, I was prescribed a Dexamethosone mouthwash. So, I'm not sure what role that might have played in the "change" to a hard lump on my tongue. It might have contributed, or maybe is just coincidental.

At any rate, I'm scheduled for a partial glossectomy next week, but I still have that metal based crown back there. I'm worried that what I have left of my tongue will still be touching that base, and we'll be back to square one. I called my old dentist this morning, and asked if he could just pull that crown and put a temporary crown back there. He told me that all his temps for crowns are a prefab metal. I suggested just pulling that root. He suggested not jumping to extremes, because I'll need that tooth with part of my tongue gone.

Any suggestions from this group? Am I overreacting?
Linda

Hi Linda -
My husband has had lichen planus and leukoplakia for decades. His turned to SCC back in 2002 and 3 more times after that. Small lesions all removed via surgery. My husband also had the "back test" and it showed reactions to some of the metals used in fillings (and crowns?), so he too had all his metal crowns removed and replaced with porcelain. If I remember, his allergies were to the same metals as yours, although I think Brian once said most people have reactions to those metals.
My husband was prescribed a mouthwash too (unfortunately, I don't remember what it was) but it may have contained alcohol so his doctor at Shands discontinued that and prescribed another, which seems to "calm" his mouth - that is "Chlorhexidine Gluconate Oral Rinse".
My husband just had his quarterly check-up up at Shands and I asked the doctor directly, IF the lichen planus/leukoplakia caused the cancer - I got a long explanation but I don't think even he knows really if there was a direct connection. I know he called them "lichenoids" (or something). None of will ever know for sure, probably.
I can't help you with the tongue issue, because none of my husband's cancers were on his tongue, but we can identify with the "metal in the mouth" questions. If I were you, I'd do a search in OCF over "metal fillings", "amalgams", etc. and you will read tons of information on this subject. Best of best wishes for your surgery next week. Keep us updated, and don't hesitate to ask us questions about our OC processes.
Warmly, JaneP

Thank you, Jane P,
As I understand it, "Lichenoid" is a term for a reaction that they are not sure if it is true Lichen Planus. Mine's been called that too by some. I think Lichen Planus is a mystery.

I did do searches on amalgam, mercury, etc. There are only a few folks that posed those questions or responses.

My old dentist this morning, essentially said that I'm just anomoly. Somehow, I don't think that I have that distinction!
Makes me wonder just how many folks have not made a connection. There must be a lot of folks who are having these reactions from the metals - why else would the allergy testing have a specially designated "dental tray?" By the way, and someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I understand that the metal base of the crowns are actually more nickel, than the amalgam, which is just a mercury mix. For me, the nickel reaction was even more strong than the mercury.

For me, it seems a simple connection: I don't smoke, drink, or have HPV. My first biopsy said "looks like smokeless tobacco," and although it was just the irritation/dermatitis, the result was the same.

Linda