β-pyrophosphate : a potential biomaterial for dental applications
Abstract
Tooth hypersensitivity is a growing problem affecting both the young and ageing population worldwide. Since an effective and permanent solution is not yet available, we propose a new methodology for the restoration of dental enamel using femtosecond lasers and novel calcium phosphate biomaterials. During this procedure the irradiated mineral transforms into a densified layer of acid resistant iron doped β-pyrophosphate, bonded with the surface of eroded enamel. Our aim therefore is to evaluate this densified mineral as a potential replacement material for dental hard tissue. To this end, we have tested the hardness of β-pyrophosphate pellets (sintered at 1000 °C) and its mineral precursor (brushite), the wear rate during simulated tooth-brushing trials and the cytocompatibility of these minerals in powder form. It was found that the hardness of the β-pyrophosphate pellets is comparable with that of dental enamel and significantly higher than dentine while, the brushing trials prove that the wear rate of β-pyrophosphate is much slower than that of natural enamel. Finally, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity tests suggest that iron doped β-pyrophosphate is cytocompatible and therefore could be used in dental applications. Taken together and with the previously reported results on laser irradiation of these materials we conclude that iron doped β-pyrophosphate may be a promising material for restoring acid eroded and worn enamel.
Citation
Anastasiou , A D , Strafford , S , Posada-Estefan , O , Thomson , C L , Hussaein , S A , Edwards , T J , Malinowski , M , Hondow , N , Metzger , N K , Brown , C T A , Routledge , M N , Brown , A P , Duggal , M S & Jha , A 2017 , ' β-pyrophosphate : a potential biomaterial for dental applications ' , Materials Science and Engineering: B , vol. 75 , pp. 885-894 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.02.116
Publication
Materials Science and Engineering: B
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0928-4931Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.02.116
Description
The authors acknowledge support from the sponsors of this work; the EPSRC LUMIN (EP/K020234/1) and EU-Marie-Curie-IAPP LUSTRE (324538) projects.Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.