Category·Articles
Dental Technology
What has actually changed in dental technology in recent years, read from the research
Activating Implant Surfaces With Plasma Prevented the 4-Week Stability Dip After Placement
Titanium implant surfaces age over time as hydrocarbons build up, making it harder for cells to attach. When cold plasma revived the surface right before placement, a human clinical trial of 40 implants showed none of the stability dip typically seen four weeks after surgery.
4 min read
Exosomes Regenerate Alveolar Bone: First Human Study Results Reported
A therapy that uses exosomes, the signaling sacs cells release rather than the cells themselves, to regenerate alveolar bone and periodontal tissue has been tried in humans for the first time. In a case of bone grafting for an implant and a preliminary study treating 13 periodontitis patients, bone grew and pocket depth decreased without adverse events, but whether exosomes alone caused this effect has not yet been confirmed.
3 min read
Mandibular Advancement Devices: Longer Sensor-Measured Wear Time Brought Bigger Dental Side Effects
This article covers a study that embedded a sensor in a mandibular advancement device used for sleep apnea to objectively measure wear time, then precisely superimposed pre- and post-treatment intraoral scans to measure tooth movement. The longer the wear time, and depending on jaw shape, the size of the dental side effects varied.
3 min read
Alveolar Ridge Preservation: Bone Width Held Steady Even Without a Collagen Membrane
A clinical trial examined whether adding a collagen barrier membrane actually improves alveolar ridge preservation, the technique of filling an extraction socket with bone graft material. Bone width and new bone formation showed no difference with or without the membrane.
4 min read
Laser Exposure Before Anesthesia Injections Reduced Pain
A meta-analysis has found that exposing gum tissue to low-level laser therapy (photobiomodulation) before an anesthetic injection reduces pain. This article examines how the therapy slows electrical nerve signals, along with the limits of irradiation protocols that have yet to be standardized.
3 min read
Pre-Treating Gums With Laser Light Reduced Dental Anesthesia Injection Pain
A meta-analysis found that briefly shining low-level laser light on the gums right before a dental anesthesia injection reduced pain. However, some studies found no difference from placebo, so the certainty of the evidence remains low.
3 min read
Patients on GLP-1 Diabetes Drugs Had Less Implant Bone Loss Than Those on Insulin or Metformin
Evidence suggests that GLP-1 receptor agonists, used to treat diabetes, may also reduce bone loss around dental implants. The effect was clear in cell and animal studies, but human evidence comes from just one retrospective study, so further confirmation is needed.
3 min read
An mRNA Vaccine Against Cavities Emerges from a Rat Trial
A cavity vaccine built the same way as COVID-19 mRNA vaccines suppressed cavity-causing bacteria from attaching to teeth and cut caries progression by more than 60% in a rat trial. Here is how this still-animal-stage vaccine works and how it is administered.
3 min read
Sjögren's Mouse Trial: Lab-Grown Salivary Gland Organoids Restore Saliva Flow
Transplanting human salivary gland organoids grown without animal-derived components into Sjögren's syndrome mice increased saliva output. Here is how building a whole new gland tissue works, and where its limits lie.
3 min read
Severe Early Childhood Caries: Silver Diamine Fluoride Stopped Its Progress in Trial
A US phase 3 clinical trial found that applying silver diamine fluoride (SDF) to children's severe cavities arrested decay progression at a far higher rate than placebo. This drill-free approach to stopping cavities is set to serve as evidence for FDA approval.
3 min read
Tooth Autotransplantation: Digital Design Narrows the Margin of Error
Tooth autotransplantation, which moves a wisdom tooth into another site, has long relied on the operator's hand feel. This article covers the accuracy shown in 10 patients whose sockets were designed in advance with CBCT and a 3D-printed guide, plus experimental results in which a robot cuts the socket to match the root shape.
4 min read
Radiation-Induced Dry Mouth: A Water-Channel Gene Got Salivary Glands Flowing Again
This article summarizes Phase 1 clinical trial results for a therapy that inserts a gene encoding a water-channel protein into salivary glands damaged by radiation therapy. Over a 12-month follow-up of 24 patients, saliva output more than doubled on average.
4 min read
A New Treatment for Tooth Sensitivity Regenerates Dentin Instead of Just Blocking It
This article looks at the results of the first clinical trial to test in humans whether selcopintide, a peptide developed by a Korean research team, reduces tooth sensitivity by reactivating odontoblasts to regenerate the dentin itself, rather than plugging the dentinal tubules like conventional treatments.
3 min read
A New Electrochemical Sensor Detects Oral Cancer From a Single Drop of Saliva
A Chinese research team has developed a portable sensor that detects oral cancer by reading the genetic material miR-31 in saliva as an electrical signal. Preliminary tests showed high accuracy, but this remains early-stage evidence confirmed by only one research team.
3 min read
When Root Canal Files Fracture, the Culprit Was Temperature
Nickel-titanium file fracture inside the root canal is not a rare complication during root canal treatment. A recent study found that a cryo-instrumentation technique, cooling both the file surface and the canal interior to 2°C during rotation, substantially increased file durability and let the file follow the shape of curved canals more accurately, all while cutting efficiency stayed the same.
4 min read
Pulp Necrosis of the Immature Permanent Tooth
When trauma or deep decay kills the pulp of a permanent tooth whose root has not finished forming, the tooth darkens and root growth stops right there. This article compares the principles and differences between conventional apexification and the recently established regenerative endodontic treatment.
7 min read
Elusive Root Canals: How Guides, Navigation, and Robots Find Them
A look at the principles, reported success rates, and remaining limitations of 3D-printed guides, dynamic navigation systems, and robot-assisted surgery, all developed to locate root canals narrowed or blocked by calcification.
4 min read
In Apical Surgery, Navigation Guides the Path Once Left to Hand Feel
This article explains the technologies that use CBCT data to plan in advance or guide in real time the instrument's approach path in apical surgery (a path once judged by the surgeon's hand feel), dividing them into three groups: static guides, dynamic navigation systems, and robot-assisted surgery.
5 min read
Guided Endodontics: Bringing Navigation Into Dental Surgery
From CBCT and 3D-printed guides to real-time navigation and robotic surgery, this article reviews the principles and limitations of the digital navigation technologies that improve the accuracy of endodontic and apical surgery.
5 min read
Xylitol Gum Also Worked for Older Adults and People with Disabilities
A research team at the University of Turku in Finland reviewed clinical trials and found that xylitol gum and candy reduced plaque, gingivitis, and cavities and increased saliva flow even in older adults and people with disabilities who struggle to brush their own teeth. This is the first review to show that effects previously confirmed only in healthy people also appear in these two groups.
4 min read