Fillings of the Future

A few years from now millions of people around the world might be walking around with an unusual kind of glass in their mouth, and using it every time they eat. Engineers have made some promising findings about the ability of ‘bioactive’ glass to help reduce the ability of bacteria to attack composite tooth fillings — and perhaps even provide some of the minerals needed to replace those lost to tooth decay. A few years from now millions of people around the world might be walking around with an unusual kind of glass in their mouth, and using it every time they eat.

Engineers at Oregon State University have made some promising findings about the ability of “bioactive” glass to help reduce the ability of bacteria to attack composite tooth fillings — and perhaps even provide some of the minerals needed to replace those lost to tooth decay.  Prolonging the life of composite tooth fillings could be an important step forward for dental treatment, the researchers say, since more than 122 million composite tooth restorations are made in the United States every year. An average person uses their teeth for more than 600,000 “chews” a year, and some studies suggest the average lifetime of a posterior dental composite is only six years

Content obtained from ScienceDaily Dec 22, 2015 edition-  Source: Oregon State University

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151222163419.htm