Dental Health Current Topics in Dental Health

Medicated Implants Treat Gum Disease

(HealthCentersOnline) - Scientists have developed a new medication delivery system to help treat gum disease.

Gum disease, or periodontal disease, is mild to severe inflammation of the gums that occurs when plaque on the surface of the teeth grows below the gum line. Over time, gum disease can lead to the destruction of gum and bone tissue, causing increasingly larger spaces to form between the tooth and gum. Eventually, this may cause the teeth supported by that periodontal tissue to fall out or have to be pulled.

The researchers from Rutgers University in New Jersey presented the new medication technology at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco. Using the new system, medications for gum disease are delivered to the gum tissue by a polymer implant placed between the tooth and gum. The plastic-like material gradually breaks down, releasing medications to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and inhibit infection.

Barrier materials have often been used between in teeth and gums to facilitate healing, but this is the first time they have been modified to release medications. "There has never been anything like this available to clinicians," said Mark Reynolds of the University of Maryland Dental School in a press release. "And it will certainly find a very prominent role in periodontal therapy in the future."

The medicated implants are not yet available for human use. Animal studies on the new material are under way, but human clinical trials may not occur for two or more years.

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