Imagine the ability to fix a tooth cavity without a drill? Hetal Desai, a second-year PhD student in the graduate specialty program in pediatric dentistry, is researching a solution to accomplish exactly this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Desai\u2019s PhD project aims to develop a low-viscosity resin with antimicrobial properties to restore early carious lesions without the need to use a drill. She is working on this research under the supervision of professor Yoav Finer, who holds the George Zarb\/Nobel Biocare Chair in Prosthodontics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Desai is an international student from India where she completed her BDS and then went on to achieve her DDS from UCLA and an oral biology master\u2019s from University of Louisville. She chose to pursue her PhD at the Faculty of Dentistry because it allowed her the opportunity to do a dual degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI came to the University of Toronto to investigate less invasive procedures for fixing dental caries,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is especially important in children because fillings often need replacing years later. Finding a different solution has the potential to avoid multiple tooth restorations.\u201d
here is currently a low-viscosity resin available that when applied to the tooth\u2019s surface, acts like a barrier to prevent further damage. However, this material doesn\u2019t have antimicrobial properties. Desai hopes to use drug-loaded nanoparticles to levy antimicrobial properties onto this resin. The nanoparticles are designed to carry a high drug load and are capable of gradually releasing the drug for a prolonged duration in order to maintain the antimicrobial effect for a long time. The result is the reduction of secondary decay occurrences around the restored tooth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEssentially, this resin will penetrate the tooth and form a barrier that will protect the tooth from being demineralized by the acids produced by the decay causing bacteria,\u201d she says. \u201cAdditionally, the drug from the nanoparticles incorporated within the resin will eliminate the bacteria and protect the tooth from the bacteria and bacterial enzymes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a lot of fear associated with visiting the dentist for a cavity, especially for young children,\u201d says Desai. \u201cI hope this research will help eliminate the need for this procedure and a more positive experience for patients of any age.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imagine the ability to fix a tooth cavity without a drill? Hetal Desai, a second-year PhD student in the graduate specialty program in pediatric dentistry, is researching a solution to accomplish exactly this. Desai\u2019s PhD project aims to develop a low-viscosity resin with antimicrobial properties to restore early carious lesions without the need to use […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-1902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-blogtag"],"yoast_head":"\n