FINAL PROJECT: Abstract and Reader's Reponse > Biomaterials Coexisting with Teeth: Past, Preset, and Future
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Dental Materials: A brief overview of composite and nerve fillers, with a focus on emerging use of bioengineered options
Dental Materials: A brief overview of composite and nerve fillers, with a focus on emerging use of bioengineered options
May 8, 2016 |
Marybeth Shea
Marybeth Shea
The first mentioned use of a dental amalgam could be traced to the Tang Dynasty of China back in 700 AD. To this day, amalgams are utilized as a restorative tool in dentistry. This dental school seminar paper intends to educate current dental students about the materials they practice with now and will later apply in their practices. Modern amalgams consist of a mixture of metals; mercury, silver, and tin comprise the majority of the composition. Modern dentists have a variety of alternative filling materials to choose from. The two more prevalent options are composites and glass ionomers. There is also a particular focus on the gutta percha used in root canal procedures. Gutta percha, derived from the Taban tree, is the material that is commonly used to obstruct the root canal system. Dental materials research is constantly advancing. A particularly exciting area of new dental research is in the regenerative properties of stem cells from dental pulp. Research is investigating the ability of stem cells to regenerate dentin tissue. In one study, human dental pulp stem cells were extracted, isolated, and cultured. This method proved successful in generating dentin-like tissues (Tran 2015). Another study utilized non-ionizing, low-power laser (LPL) treatment as a noninvasive method to induce dentin growth. LPL treatment activated transforming growth factor-β1, and treated tissue demonstrated increased dentin regeneration (Arany 2014). This information will be a daily influence for future dentists, and today’s research can change how future dentistry is practiced.
WC: 244
Reader’s Profile:
I imagine a reader that is disinterested in the topic of dental materials.
Reader’s Response:
Hmm… It’s kind of interesting how far dentistry has come and what we put into people’s mouths. I already know about what we use now, but I’ve never thought about what dentistry could be like in ten or twenty years. Maybe in the future, all of the techniques we use today all become obsolete to regenerative techniques.