Clifford Materials Reactivity Testing is intended as a screening test for systemic sensitivity to materials used in patient care and is not a means of specific diagnosis or prognosis of any disease or condition.

We have found that most people have come in contact with a sufficient variety of substances to develop their antibody record by the age of puberty. Because their antibody records are not fully mature, caution should be used when considering this kind of testing for children.

Patients with unusual environmental sensitivities may exhibit reactions which do not pass through the immune mechanisms. Targeted antibodies in these instances are not produced which reduces the effectiveness of our testing. In these rare instances provocative challenge testing may be helpful such as MELISA and ELISA/ACT tests.

While Clifford Materials Reactivity Testing is useful in detecting systemic sensitivies to chemical groups and materials for a patient, it does not address issues of mechanical performance or galvanic interaction between materials.

Our services are not approved for Medicare, Medicaid, MediCal or CHAMPUS participation and we do not accept insurance assignment. Testing charges are ultimately the responsibility of the patient.

Other factors to consider

Some patients may actually become immuno-tolerant of an antigen.
With the passage of time, antibody levels can fall below detectable limits if there has been no recurrent exposure to the antigen. However, memory lymphocytes may continue to be resident which are capable of eliciting a response should new exposure to that antigen occur. Such condition may not be detected at the time of testing and could pose a problem later. The problem of immuno-tolerance or non-response is below 5% in general population longitudinal testing.

Cross-reactivity
Cross-reactivity may occur in testing when an antibody manufactured in response to one antigen cross-reacts with a different antigen. We believe that while this may occur as a false positive in testing, such cross-reactivity will also be possible in-vivo and is therefore a valid consideration for avoiding the use of materials in question.

Adjuvant effects may occur with some constituents such as aluminum and mercury when chemical groups that the patient might normally handle well, react adversely due to amplification of their properties by the adjuvant. These reactivities often disappear over a period of months in longitudinal testing sequences when the adjuvants are removed from the body and lifestyle of the patient.

This may become a factor for temporization of sensitive patients with benign temporary materials for a period of months prior to final placement of long-term materials. It is not unusual to see some reactivity levels drop below detection limits, and even for some allergies to abate completely with adjuvant removal.

Future reactivity
Testing of this type cannot predict future reactivity for materials which do not presently react. We have found that most people have come in contact with a sufficient variety of materials and substances to form a mature bio-record by the age of puberty. New reactivities in adult patients do not occur often. Pediatric patients are not nearly as stable nor biologicaly experienced as their immune records have not fully matured. Therefore, caution should be used in considering and ordering this kind of testing for children.

Long-term application of immuno-suppressive therapies or steroids
Long-term application of immuno-suppressive therapies or steroids may interfere with antibody production generally. Patients on such therapies may not have adequate levels of antibody response to chemical groups to be reliably detected in testing. Nutritional supplements and antibiotics are not known to induce such problems.