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Hi Donna & All,

Please excuse the delay in responding.  I didn't see the original post
asking this question until recently.

I had the opportunity to attend the Celiac Disease Awareness Day and the
seminar the day before in July, 1998 held at Children's Hospital in Los
Angeles, which was organized by Elaine Monarch and the Celiac Disease
Foundation.  One of the speakers was Dr. Charles Shuler, DMD,PhD, Professor
and Director of the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology at the
University of Southern California.  He spoke on some of the discoveries and
abnormalities of dentition found in the teeth of celiac patients.

Some European studies have detailed the changes in the enamel in people with
CD, but more manifestations are beginning to be seen inside the mouth that
are related to CD.  The oral cavity is an organ system that contais both
hard tissue and soft tissue and shows manifestations of systemic disease.
Many systemic diseases have complications of the hard and soft tissues, and
there are several ways in which these can occur.  According to Dr. Shuler,
there is a primary effect;  Whatever is happening in the disease happens the
same way in the oral tissues and there is a primary effect then on this
tissue.  Alternatively, there can be a primary effect during development so
that the teeth, soft tissues, bones, etc. are altered during in utero
development and consequently, when the person is born, those tissues no
longer have normal function.  There can be secondary effects on the oral
tissues such that, if a person has a systemic disease, changes in the
circulatikon of certain nutrients and changes in immunological status could
be reflected in the oral cavity's ability to fight disease.  There is an
increased suscepibility of those tissue to traditional dental diseases such
as tooth decay or periodontal disease.

If there is an interruption in the normal growth of the teeth there would be
horizontal striations in the teeth.  These are similar types of striations
to those seen in geologic formations.  Dr. Shuler showed slides exhibiting
the horizontal grooves, rough, weak enamel and discolorations that take
place.

There is very little research being done on the effect CD has on dentition.
At that time, Dr. Shuler was researching changes in primary molars and
looking for diagnosed celiac children to send him their primary molars when
they fall out to help in his research.  I don't know if this is still going
on.

He passed out a paper on all of this that I can't seem to find right now but
you can probably get a copy from Elaine Monarch at CDF.  A synopsis of this
was published in the Summer, 1998 CDF Newsletter.  At that time, there was
some talk of organizing a dental screening of celiacs sometime this year but
I haven't heard anything about it since.  CDF would be your best source for
further information.

I don't believe that your conclusion about gluten in the cap or filling
material being a problem is well founded.  How and why would it be in there?
The caps are porcelain or some sort of plastic.  Temporaries are generally
metallic.  The base material placed under the cap or crown is zinc oxide, a
good temperature insulator, mixed with eugenol, (oil of cloves), to form a
paste.  Eugenol is also an anodyne, a type of anesthetic.  Temporary
fillings are the same material.  I just don't see why gluten would be in any
of it.

I hope this has been helpful.

Tom