The irritation potencies of 8 dental polymer products, used as dental restorative materials, adhesives, or temporary constructions, were tested using the HET-CAM (hen's egg te st-ch o rio a lla n to ic membrane) technique. Liquid and pow der com ponents, and extracts of cured and freshly mixed non-cured m aterials of 5 glass ionomers, 1 bonding, 1 com posite, and 1 cold-cured acrylate were examined. Results showed that the liquid com ponent o f all products had a strong irritatio n ca p a city

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... ut pow der suspensions and extracts from cured and freshly mixed non-cured materials had no effect on the CAM. Thus, dental personnel w ho handle liquid and powder m anually are exposed to com ponents w ith a high irrita tio n potential, in contrast to patients w ho are exposed to the cured and mixed non-cured materials with low irritation potential. This illus trates the im portance of safe handling procedures and practices for dental personnel w ho handle non-cured polymers manually. HET-CAM test irrita tio n score dental polymers o c cu p a tio n a l hazard dental personnel M rs. Elsa M orisbak and M rs. G aynour Sletten are gratefully acknowledged for expert assistance.