A toxic metal used in nuclear weapons and reactors could be in your mouth right now.

Beryllium can be found in golf clubs and bicycle frames, and is just one of the many metals that dental labs can use to make dental crowns, bridges and partial dentures, WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Joelle Girone reported Monday.

Its use dates back to the Cold War, and while it's effective, it's also potentially deadly.

Still, many Ohioans work with beryllium in the aerospace industry to make nuclear weapons, Girone reported. The metallic element gained national attention in 2000 when the government admitted that many workers, past and present, now are sick or dead because they were unknowingly exposed to its toxic dust.

Now, decades after the Cold War, beryllium is once again creating a buzz, literally, in the various tools in dental offices used to craft your dental crowns, bridges and other work.

And figuratively, the concern stems from the the dust created during the finishing process of certain dental work. A toxic cloud can result in an incurable, often fatal lung disease or cancer, Girone reported.

Proper ventilation and protection for workers is key as dust fills the air in most labs. Still, many technicians don't know the risks. But the overall concern is great enough that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued hazard information bulletins that warn labs to protect employees. In Ohio, a citizens' group is taking the threat head-on.

"We would like to see no dental lab using beryllium in dental products," Ohio Citizen Action spokeswoman Sandy Buchanan said. "It's not necessary. The risks are high to dental technicians who have to grind up the mineral. There are safer substitutes available."

OCA claims there's no reason dental labs should use beryllium. Girone contacted 10 Tri-State labs that said they don't use beryllium products. But that doesn't mean your dentist doesn't. Products can be purchased on the Internet, and suppliers send from all over.

"I believe, for most of them, it's a cost factor," Buchanan said. "It's cheaper than precious metals they might use in their dental supplies."

According to one dentistry Web site, porcelain fused to a metal dental crown can cost between $520 and $780, Girone reported. A gold dental crown runs from $570 to $960.

But according to workers, there's a bigger cost. Mike Bauer, only 47, said he can barely climb two flights of stairs without coughing or gasping. In 2001, a doctor diagnosed him with chronic beryllium disease. Tests showed he has seven granulomas, or scars, in his lungs, Girone reported. The once-active maintenance manager said he now lives a life filled with prescriptions.

"I still have a rough time handling it," Bauer said. "I don't know if beryllium is going to kill me or not, but I know it will play a part in my death."

Bauer said he was exposed to beryllium dust while working at Brush Wellman in Elmore, Ohio, which, at one time, was the country's largest producer of beryllium. And despite the fact that many former workers there claim to have beryllium disease, some still believe it's safe under proper conditions and even safe enough for you to have in your mouth.

"There probably is no concern whatsoever," local dentist Alan Weinstein said. "The material does not corrode, and it stays relatively inert. I've seen partial dentures patients that were 20 or 30 years old and the partials themselves have not degraded whatsoever."

Weinstein said he doesn't use beryllium in his practice, but added that the metal can be useful. Like mercury, gold and silver, it's used in amalgams or fillings, Girone reported. Right now, there's no real long-term research on health effects associated with wearing beryllium, yet Weinstein said that stressing over it is more likely to make you sick.

"If your immune system is compromised, you're more susceptible to those same potential ailments that the anti-amalgamists groups say you're going to get," Weinstein said. "It's probably not because of the amalgam, but the fear of the amalgam."

Bauer said the fear is justified.

"You cut a diamond with glass long enough and you're not going to have a diamond left," he said. "Same thing with that plate or whatever's in your mouth. It's going to be wearing down. If there's beryllium in that, you got it halfway to your lungs just by having it in your mouth."