Nanotube Dental Implants
December 24, 2013 | Terry Sharrer
Two part dental implants—a bone screw and an artificial tooth—are expensive in the first place and even more so if the screw fails to hold or causes an infection. Material engineers at Michigan Tech have developed a solution for both problems—titanium dioxide nanotubes for the bone screw. TiO2 encourages cell growth for better adhesion, and an anti-inflammatory agent and silver particles packed into the tubes control bacterial flora. A zirconia “tooth” attaches to the screw for an attractive finish. Obviously, what can be done with bone screws for the jaw might be done with other kinds of surgical screws. MORE
Image Credit: Tolou Shokuhfar and ScienceDaily.com