Scientist's laser may one day help teeth

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Scientist's laser may one day help teeth
January 2, 2008
Frank Munger
knoxnews.com

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OAK RIDGE - It's called "laser interference structuring," and someday the technique may help bolster your bite.

Claus Daniel, a 30-year-old German scientist who came to Oak Ridge National Laboratory 2 1/2 years ago, has a patent pending on the laser technique that's used to strengthen ceramics used in crowns and tooth implants.

"We are increasing the mechanical strength of the material and in principle we inhibit cracks from being formed or initiated," Daniel said.

"We're not changing the topography of the surface. We're changing the microstructure."

Cracks can be the enemy of good dentistry, weakening the structure of artificial teeth and shortening the lifetime of expensive repairs.

The problem, in many cases, involves cracks forming near the juncture where the ceramic material is joined to the natural tooth surface, Daniel said. His treatment uses a 400-megawatt laser for a 10th of a second to mimic a biological process called periodic structuring, creating a stronger composite material.

Daniel began his basic research in Germany while working on his Ph.D. thesis - "Stiffness scaling of thin films by Laser Interference Metallurgy" - at Saarland University.

"It worked pretty well, exactly following what nature was doing," he said.

His work evolved to look at possible applications to automotive and cutting tools, then shifted to dentistry.

Daniel said the tooth-toughening technique is still in its early stages of development, and he is collaborating with a couple of dental researchers, Russell Giordano at Boston University and James Drummond at the University of Illinois.

The dental-grade ceramics are received from Boston and, after the research treatments, analyzed at Illinois.

The initial work was funded through ORNL's internal fund for promising research projects, and Daniel said the team is trying to get additional funding from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

The ORNL scientist said he believes the technique has plenty of promise, although he said commercial applications may be five to 10 years away - depending on funding and the review process at the Food and Drug Administration.

Upon contact, the powerful laser burst heats the ceramic surface to temperatures approaching 3,000 degrees Celsius, but the temperature cools almost instantaneously.

The laser technique does not alter the appearance of ceramic crowns, and the added cost for treatment should be minimal, he said.

"We're adding just a couple of cents," Daniel said. "We're not making the product more expensive."

The laser treatment would take place in a dental lab, not at the dentist's office, and that would occur between a patient's initial visit and the fitting of the crown, he said.

Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.

© 2008 The E.W. Scripps Co.