Local neurotoxicity of methyl methacrylate among dental technicians

Dental technicians often handle methyl methacrylate bare-handed before the polymerization reaction, and the monomer can penetrate the skin during the process. Nerve conduction velocities were determined in 20 dental technicians who had slight neurological complaints and in 18 healthy control persons. The motor and sensory conduction velocities in the forearm sections were normal and similar in both the study and the control group. Dental technicians had significantly slower distal sensory conduction velocities from the digits I, II and III on the right hand and also from the radial aspects of the digits II and III on the left hand than did the controls. Findings are considered to represent mild axonal degeneration on the areas with the closest and most frequent contact with methyl methacrylate.