Dental News - Plasma brush disinfects and cleans out cavities for fillings

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 5 January 2012

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COLUMBIA, Mo., USA: Engineers at the University of Missouri and their research collaborators at Nanova, a corporation that designs, patents and sells medical and non-medical devices, are one step closer to a painless way to replace fillings. After favorable results in the lab, human clinical trials are underway on the plasma brush. If the studies go well and the FDA authorizes its use, the researchers' timeline indicates the brush could be available to dentists as early as the end of 2013.

According to the developers, the plasma brush uses chemical reactions to disinfect and clean out cavities for fillings in less than 30 seconds. In addition to its bactericidal properties, the cool flame from the plasma brush forms a better bond for cavity fillings. The chemical reactions involved actually alter the surface of the tooth, which allows for a strong and robust bonding with the filling material.

"There have been no side effects reported during the lab trials, and we expect the human trials to help us improve the prototype," said Qingsong Yu, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at MU, and Meng Chen, chief scientist at Nanova, which holds a co-patent for the plasma brush with MU.

"200 million tooth restorations cost Americans an estimated US$50 billion a year, and it is estimated that replacement fillings comprise 75 percent of a dentist's work. The plasma brush would help reduce those costs," said Hao Li, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in the MU College of Engineering. "In addition, a tooth can only support two or three restorations before it must be pulled. Our studies indicate that fillings are 60 percent stronger with the plasma brush, which would increase the filling lifespan. This would be a big benefit to the patient, as well as dentists and insurance companies."

Human clinical trials are expected to begin early this year. The researchers believe the human clinical trials will provide the data to allow Nanova to obtain investors and take the next steps in releasing the product to the market.

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