Improving Caries and Toothwear 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving Caries and Toothwear Management Techniques
IRAS ID
157705
Contact name
Tim Watson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Several materials are currently available which claim to help prevent dental caries (tooth decay) and minimise tooth wear by hardening and reconstructing tooth tissue. Some companies and research groups claim to have developed materials that actively stop early stage dental decay before it progresses to deeper tooth tissues. When a lesion does penetrate to deeper tooth tissues, a restoration is necessary to protect the exposed tooth tissue, prevent further decay and to restore normal appearance and function. This involves the removal of infected tissue, “etching” the exposed surface (applying an acid which dissolves some tooth tissue and leaves a rough surface, allowing better mechanical anchoring of the materials to be placed on top), and application of a resin adhesive. It is to the adhesive that the composite resin (the tooth- coloured material which makes up the body of the restoration) is applied and hardened, forming an integrated resin restoration. The interaction of the adhesive layer with etched tooth tissue underneath it is complex and prone to failure, partly due to the constant outward flow of dentinal fluid (water) from the pulp chamber, which chemically weakens the adhesive material and degrades the tooth tissue/ adhesive interface. The average lifetime of a dental restoration currently lies within the region of 5.7 years, and the adhesive resin layer is very often the literal weak link in the restoration.
Although a sizable quantity literature surrounding dental restorations, there have been very few major developments in adhesive dentistry in some decades. There also exists very few standard experimental protocols which enable the direct cross-comparison of data from different studies, and a broader understanding of factors which influence these issues is generally poor.
This programme of laboratory study aims to address all of these issues and to create a comprehensive knowledge base of the factors that affect the performance of these technologies, which will ultimately benefit dental patients and dentists. We predict the programme will be completed within 5-7 years.REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/SW/0220
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion