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How Smart Materials Can Aid In The Fight Against Tooth Decay

How Smart Materials Can Aid In The Fight Against Tooth Decay
by Tammy Adams

"Two for one" is a great marketing strategy — for certain things. Two bags of chips for the price of one? Yep. Two nights hotel stay for the price of one? Yes, please.

But an additional cavity (called recurrent caries) beneath the filling of a cavity that was already filled? Uh, no thanks. Unfortunately, many dentists have to deliver this bad news to patients on a daily basis.

Bacteria can dig under tooth-colored fillings and cause new cavities. These recurrent caries happen to about 100 million patients every year and cost up to an additional $34 billion to treat.

But a recent research collaboration between the University of Toronto's Faculty of Dentistry, Department of Materials Science & Engineering and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering has shed some good news on this negative phenomenon.

In the study that was published in the journal Scientific Reports, three dental research colleagues proposed a creative solution to pesky recurrent caries. Professor Ben Hatton, Professor Yoav Finer and Ph.D. student Cameron Stewart discovered that a cavity filling material packed full of tiny particles, which includes a specific amount of antimicrobial drugs, could stop bacteria in its tracks.

Read full article on MultiBriefs.