They give away a tooth: Russians use dangerous counterfeit for self-sealing

The vast majority of entrepreneurs who sell dental self-treatment kits on the Internet do not have permits for the sale of medical devices, the international association "Anti-Counterfeit" told Izvestia. The experts came to this conclusion after conducting a random check of the product cards. The origin and chemical composition of such seals raise doubts about their quality and safety, the association noted. Self—treatment leads to serious complications such as inflammation of bone tissue, pus formation and tooth loss, doctors warned.

Who sells temporary seals and how

Most self—medication filling kits do not have permits, such as certificates of conformity and registration certificates issued by Roszdravnadzor. This was reported to Izvestia by the international Anti-Counterfeit association, after conducting a random check of product cards on the Network.

Certificates confirm the product's safety and compliance with requirements and standards, and registration certificates confirm entry into the State Register of Medical Devices. If the product is not related to medicine, then a certificate of conformity will be quite enough for its sale, Alexander Nosenko, head of the Center for the Protection of Copyright Holders of the association, told Izvestia.

— But dental fillings belong to medical devices, respectively, they must be registered in accordance with the established procedure in Roszdravnadzor, — he emphasized. — The absence of a registration certificate indicates that the safety and quality of the products have not been confirmed.

As Izvestia found out after checking the product cards, many of these medical filling kits do not have not only permits, but even names. As noted in the "Anti—counterfeit", the material for seals is sold in bulk in plastic bags, which do not have identification signs - the number and date of the registration certificate, manufacturer's data, batch number and series.

For example, Yulia Sergeevna Dronova, an individual entrepreneur, packages dental filling materials in transparent sachets and supplies them with an insert labeled "IP Dronova". Sultanli Wahid Rufat Oglu, an individual entrepreneur, also designs his goods.

Almaz Rimovich Faizov, an individual entrepreneur, has a self-medication kit called "Mold your teeth." And individual entrepreneur Ivan Aleksandrovich Medny produces his products in plastic cans without any inscriptions in Russian.

Themselves with fillings: Russians "treat" teeth at home instead of visits to dentists

Self-medication kits from the Internet threaten the development of infections, tooth loss and bone damage, doctors warn

Get your teeth fixed

Some sole proprietors who sell temporary seals have certificates, but they are presented in unreadable form in the product cards. There are other inconsistencies. For example, in the product card of individual entrepreneur Ivanova Victoria Andreevna, Korea is listed as the country of manufacture of the temporary seal, while China is indicated in the attached certificate of conformity.

— All this looks like a completely unsafe product of unknown origin without signs of identification and quality control, — said Alexander Nosenko.

Despite the very questionable quality of the "bag seals", there are almost no negative customer reviews.

"I'm satisfied. At least I won't embarrass myself or people while I earn my teeth. I made stumps in place of two missing teeth. I steamed the granules in tea and then molded them, compressing the gum from the front and back and adjacent teeth with the material," wrote one of the customers.

"Great result! Very grateful. I saved my elderly mother. It's been holding up for a week now, although mom even eats breadcrumbs," writes another customer.

The sale of unregistered medical products worth over 100,000 rubles constitutes a criminal offense under Article 238.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Anton Talyzenkov, vice president of the Association of Organizations for the Examination of the Quality of Medicines and Other Products, lawyer, told Izvestia.

— We are talking about the circulation of falsified, substandard and unregistered medicines and medical devices, and the sale of filling materials of unknown origin falls under this composition, — said the lawyer. — Is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to five years with a fine in the amount of 500 thousand to 2 million rubles.

Despite the fact that the cost of one sealing kit varies from 150 to 900 rubles, the revenue of some sellers reaches up to 1 million rubles per month, according to the "Anti-counterfeit".

For example, Sauda, an individual entrepreneur from Kazakhstan (the Tooth for tooth store), sells half a million rubles worth of dental self-treatment kits per month.

And the individual entrepreneur A.N. Shevelev has monthly sales of more than 870 thousand rubles. In his certificate of conformity, China is indicated as the country of manufacture, and Switzerland is indicated in the product card. There are no other marks on the package at all, except for "IP Shevelev", and there is also no expiration date.

As Izvestia wrote, filling kits have become especially popular against the background of rising prices for dental services. In June 2025, the average check reached 10.9 thousand rubles, which is 15% higher than last year's level, the Check Index analytical center of the OFD Platform told Izvestia. This led to a significant increase in the supply of products for self-dental fillings at home on online platforms in the first seven months of 2025, market analysts told Izvestia.

There were 3.3 times more sales announcements on one of the marketplaces compared to the same period last year, the specialists of the JVO Studio e-commerce management platform clarified.

On average, about 2 thousand ads for the sale of temporary fillings are currently posted on online sites, which anyone can put on themselves, thus covering up caries, chipping, darkening and other visually noticeable flaws. Previously, the price of such a "repair kit" could start from 150-200 rubles. But now — against the background of popularity — the average check has increased to 908 rubles.

Izvestia asked Roszdravnadzor about whether dental self-treatment kits can be sold without registration certificates and how many such certificates have been issued in Russia today.

What are the dangers of temporary seals?

Based on the information provided in the cards, it is impossible to understand which polymers and chemicals manufacturers have mixed into their products, Bella Dyshekova, a dentist and general practitioner, told Izvestia. But it's not even about the quality of the material. The very way to "treat" a tooth with such a temporary filling can be very dangerous, the doctor emphasized.

"Due to infection, the tooth tissue dies, putrefaction and inflammatory processes form in it, and the filling monomer seals these processes," the doctor explained. — And if the filling is sealed, for example, chronic periodontitis (prolonged inflammation of the tissues surrounding the root of the tooth. — Ed.) in the acute stage, it can lead to serious consequences.

According to Bella Dyshekova, people who have tried to cure a tooth themselves with a polymer they bought online often end up in the department of maxillofacial surgery with diagnoses of "periostitis" (inflammation of the periosteum, a thin layer of tissue covering the bone) and "osteomyelitis" (purulent-necrotic bone process). In the worst case, this can even lead to phlegmon (diffuse purulent inflammation of the cellular spaces), an acute infectious disease characterized by rapid progression.

"Phlegmon is already a borderline condition between life and death, and it's very serious," the dentist warned. — Applying such fillings is not just a game, it's like trying to block gangrene. If you do not treat a sore tooth, there will be less harm to the body than if you patch it with a filling.

The sale of medical products made from unknown components that have not passed the procedures for confirming compliance with mandatory requirements poses a direct threat to consumer health, the Public Consumer Initiative (OPI) told Izvestia.

Moreover, the risks of harm increase many times due to the fact that consumers are offered to use such products independently, without the participation of a specialist and consultation with a doctor, said Oleg Pavlov, chairman of the OPI.

— In our opinion, the online sale of such goods to a wide range of consumers should be completely prohibited, - said the expert. — The sale should be carried out on specialized electronic platforms, to which only specialized specialists will have access, provided that they identify their identity and confirm their qualifications.

According to Oleg Pavlov, only practicing dentists can evaluate the quality of filling products and the correctness of their use, and the consumer does not have such knowledge. Therefore, restrictions on trade will protect people from buying low-quality and dangerous goods.

"The federal law on the platform economy will come into force in Russia on October 1, 2026," Anton Talyzenkov reminded. — It obliges the owners of digital platforms to prevent the use of these platforms for the commission of criminally punishable acts, in particular, the sale of counterfeit and unregistered medical products.

According to the law, the lawyer added, the operator of the digital platform will have to verify information about the product and prevent medical devices that have not passed state registration from being sold.