New trends, challenges, and opportunities in the use of nanotechnology in restorative dentistry

JOAQUIN TABUENCA HUERTA, ; JOSÉ MARIA BERMUDEZ, ; DANIELA ALEJANDRA QUINTEROS, ; DANIEL ALBERTO ALLEMANDI, ; SANTIAGO DANIEL PALMA.; ALEXANDRU GRUMEZESCU

Nanobiomaterials in Dentistry. Applications of Nanobiomaterials

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Año: 2016; p. 1 - 467

The durability of dental restorations is very important for public health because it delays or eliminates the need for future dental treatments. It is hard to organize the area of dental health, since the best part of research is oriented toward the concept of restoration in a very broad sense. Restorative dentistry in the twenty-first century is changing every day. As times passes, the chemistry and investigation of new products are changing the way dentists can approach different situations. The introduction of microfill restoratives (in the early 1970s) can be considered as the beginning of dental nanotechnology, a new period of time with a nonstop evolution of restorative materials which, combined with new adhesives, is changing the way dentists can treat their patients, treatments based, in addition, on preserving as much tooth structure as possible. This is what we called "minimally invasive odontology." Other applications of nanotechnology in dentistry are focused on the delivery of molecules that promote hard tissue remineralization by noninvasive techniques. In this context, the most promising technology for the nanorestoration of tooth structure is biomimetics, the study and use of processes that mimic nature and repair oral tissues.Odontology based on adding material without any removal and preservation of the tooth structures seems to be mandatory. Only by improving material properties and adhesion can this objective be achieved.