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Pain-free dental tool step nearer to market
24th Jan 2012
A pain-free alternative to dental fillings is being tested on human patients – and its creators reckon it could be sold on the dental market soon.
University of Missouri engineers and their research collaborators at Nanova, Inc. are one step closer to a painless way to replace fillings.
After favourable results in the lab, human clinical trials are underway on the 'plasma brush'.
Chief scientist Meng Chen says he expects human clinical trials to begin in early 2012 at the University of Tennessee's Memphis campus.
He is chief scientist for Nanova Inc., a company formed by several professors that shares a patent on the new technology with the university.
The plasma brush use chemical reactions to disinfect and clean out cavities for fillings within 30 seconds.
The research team
hopes the technology
will allow dentists and
patients to reduce the
number and costs of
replacement fillings as
well as decrease the
need for patients to
have teeth pulled after
repeated fillings.
The team believes the
'plasma brush' could
take some of the pain,
noise and expense out
of getting a filling.
Its developers say the plasma brush painlessly disinfects and cleans a cavity before filling a tooth in less than 30 seconds,
It uses a 'cool flame' that strengthens the bond for a longer-lasting filling, which reduces the chance of losing a tooth as the result of a filling being repeatedly replaced.
The research team hopes the plasma brush will make getting a filling a more comfortable experience.
Although the procedure is painless and relatively quiet, dentists may still need to use a drill to assist in the filling process, said Meng Chen.
Hao Li, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the MU College of Engineering, said that 200 million fillings cost Americans an estimated $50 billion a year, and he estimates that replacement fillings make up 75% of a dentist's work.
The plasma brush developers hope their invention will reduce those costs. A tooth can only support two or three fillings before it must be pulled, Li said.
Human clinical trials are expected to begin in early 2012 at the University of Tennessee-Memphis.
The researchers believe the human clinical trials will provide the data that allow Nanova to find investors and take the next steps in placing the product on the market.
If the studies go well and the FDA approves, the researchers' timeline indicates the plasma brush could be available to dentists as early as the end of 2013.
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