New Face and Vision of Dentistry Through Revolutionized Technique-An Era of Nanotechnology

With the growing demand for advances in diagnostic and treatment modalities, nanotechnology is viewed as an innovative and sustainable research topic. This technology, which deals with matter in nano-dimensions, has broadened our views of poorly understood health problems and opened up a new diagnostic and treatment possibilities. Dental Researchers and scientists have studied the potential of nanoparticles in existing therapeutic modalities with moderate success. Nanotechnology is very diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to entirely a unique approach based upon molecular self-organization that deal with developing new materials to investigate whether we can directly control matter at atomic level. The technology can be conveniently applied to the medical and dental field to categorized the terminology nanomedicine and nano-dentistry respectively.

The most important implementations in the field of dentistry include local drug delivery agents, dentinal hypersensitivity, oral hygiene and mouthwashes (dentrifrobots), restorative materials and nanocomposite resins, bone replacement materials, and implant surface modifications. With the help of science and technology, there have been manufacturing of various nanoparticles which we often find and use in everyday life without knowing that it is part of the future revolution. The various nanoparticles are nano pores, nanotubes, quantum dots, nano-shells, dendrimers, liposomes, nanorods, fullerenes, nanospheres, nanowires, nanobelts, nano-rings, nano-capsules.

Nanotechnology has multiple applications in dentistry, from diagnosing of pathological conditions to local anaesthesia, orthodontic tooth movement, periodontics, Prosthodontics, oral and maxillofacial surgery and endodontics. Nanotechnology is a relatively a new field, that involves manipulation of matter at the molecular level, including individual molecules and the interactions between them. It focuses on achieving positional control with a high degree of specificity, thereby achieving the desired physical and chemical properties. There has been an upsurge in interest in deciphering the property of matter at this dimension, thus making nanotechnology one of the most promising and influential areas of scientific research.

Keywords: Nanotechnology; Nano robots; Drug delivery devices; Nano-fillers; Tissue regeneration; Bone graft scaffolds; Nanocomposites

Abbreviations: CaCO₃: Calcium Carbonate; CA-HAP: Calcium Hydroxyapatite; CAP: Carbonate Apatite; CaSO₄: Calcium Sulphate; GTR: Guided Tissue Regeneration; HAP: Hydroxyapatite; nCHAC/PLGA: Nanocarbonated Hydroxyapatite/Collagen/Polylactic-co-glycolic acid; NHAP: Nanocrystalline Hydroxyapatite; OFNASET: Oral Fluid Nano Sensor Test; PDGF: Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; ZnO: Zinc oxide.