Recently some foreign researchers have discovered a new method of developing dentures. The new nanocrystal technology develops cleaner and sturdier dentures than traditional technology.
When people get dentures oftentimes they think that there is no reason to worry about the wear and tear placed on the dentures. Dentures are there to do what real teeth couldn’t right? Well whatever your natural teeth might be going through when you eat is exactly what your dentures have to hold up to as well, and that can amount to a lot of wear and tear over time.
"What the natural tooth enamel has to endure also goes for dentures, inlays or bridges", glass chemist Dr. Christian Russel of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) says. Dentures, crowns, and bridges need just as much care as natural teeth because they are worn and used just as much as natural teeth. But luckily it seems there is a new method for keeping those dentures, crowns and bridges clean and strong.
Professor Russel and his colleagues at the Otto-Schott-Institute for Glass Chemistry have finally invented a new method of cleaning and enhancing false teeth. The researchers have developed a way of utilizing nanotechnology to create the best possible clean for false teeth. The technology involves creating glass ceramic false teeth that are made with a nanocrystalline structure. The nanocrystalline structure reinforces the strength of the false teeth and keeps them clean and healthy.
The nanocrystals seem to be made just right for use in the production of false teeth because the structure makes it so that the false teeth become extra strong and the visual aesthetics of the nanocrystals make false teeth look cleaner than ever before. The results of the research that led to the production of nanocrystalline false teeth have recently been published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.
. "We achieve a strength five times higher than with comparable denture ceramics available today", Prof. Rüssel explains. The researchers involved have been working for quite some time on developing this technology but have only just recently been able to finish their work. Previously they have been using the nanocrystal technology to produce new items that are handy in other areas of science such as new nanocrystal enforced hard drives for computers. "In combination with new optical characteristics an additional field of application is opening up for these materials in dentistry", Prof. Rüssel said.
There are certain materials that have been traditionally off limits for the production of false teeth, even though they bear the strength necessary for patients to feel like they have natural teeth. If the material cannot be made to look like real teeth then there is an aesthetic problem that arises with the use of the material. The new nanocrystals are not only stronger than current false teeth materials, but they also provide a slightly translucent look to the enamel which is reminiscent of natural teeth.
"They are too small to strongly disperse light and therefore the ceramic looks translucent, like a natural tooth", Prof. Rüssel said. Though the materials for the false teeth have been developed and the ground work has been laid out for the development of nanocrystalline false teeth it seems that it may be quite a while before patients will see this technology on the shelves. There is still a lot of work and development to do before this technology will be ready for use in the dental industry, though at least the researchers are on the right track. In the mean time it is important to try and dentures right away when you lose a tooth. Doing so can help retain the structure of the mouth for patients who may otherwise have difficulty going back to the feel of a full set of teeth.
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