Dental Fillings are the most common treatment followed in Dental Clinics which can be either as a preventive measure or after an invasion by Dental caries. There have been cases where recurring caries is seen after a Restoration which can be tackled by using a antibacterial restoration which can kill or prevent any bacteria growing in the cavity. A new study by Tel Aviv University researchers are looking at a resin-based composites with antibacterial nano-assemblies can help in hindering bacterial growth preventing recurrent cavities. Such a restoration can help in leading the fillings to root canal treatment or extractions in severe cases.
Dr. Lihi Adler-Abramovich and TAU doctoral student Lee Schnaider in collaboration with Prof. Ehud Gazit, Prof. Rafi Pilo, Prof. Tamar Brosh, Dr. Rachel Sarig and colleagues from TAU’s Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine and George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences Published a Research article in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
“Antibiotic resistance is now one of the most pressing healthcare problems facing society, and the development of novel antimicrobial therapeutics and biomedical materials represents an urgent unmet need,” says Dr. Adler-Abramovich. “When bacteria accumulate on the tooth surface, they ultimately dissolve the hard tissues of the teeth. Recurrent cavities also known as secondary tooth decay at the margins of dental restorations results from acid production by cavity-causing bacteria that reside in the restoration-tooth interface.”
Amalgam which was used extensively earlier was said to have certain antibacterial properties, with the recent inclusions of GIC’s and Composites, Amalgam has been discontinued due to its potential toxicity due to mercury and the aesthetics. Composites do not have any Antibacterial properties, so the scientists have discovered the potent antibacterial activity of Fmoc-pentalfluoro-L-phenylalanine a self-assembling building block which comprises both functional and structural sub parts.
The researchers after discovering its anti-bacterial properties have developed methods to incorporate these nano-assemblies into dental composites. After incorporation they have assessed the other parameters which make for a good restoration – bio compatibility, mechanical strength, aesthetics, optical properties etc.
The researchers said, “We’ve developed an enhanced material that is not only aesthetically pleasing and mechanically rigid but is also intrinsically antibacterial due to the incorporation of antibacterial nano-assemblies,” Schnaider says. “Resin composite fillings that display bacterial inhibitory activity have the potential to substantially hinder the development of this widespread oral disease”
Schnaider said, “This work is a good example of the ways in which biophysical nanoscale characteristics affect the development of an enhanced biomedical material on a much larger scale,”
Dr. Adler-Abramovich said, “The minimal nature of the antibacterial building block, along with its high purity, low cost, ease of embedment within resin-based materials and biocompatibility, allows for the easy scale-up of this approach toward the development of clinically available enhanced antibacterial resin composite restoratives,”
With the success of incorporating this nanoscale product the researchers are evaluating which other biomedical materials can be enhanced with such incorporation’s such as wound dressings, tissue scaffolds etc.
Reference: ScienceDaily
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