Apollonia – the next level of dental care

“生活方式依赖性酸诱导的牙釉质侵蚀在世界人口中很常见（2009年英国76%），导致牙齿表面损失（TSL）。TSL也是由酸反流引起的，常见于糖尿病，以及由反流例如厌食症引起。慢性病严重影响生活方式。在极端情况下，牙齿需要拔除，用移植物/植入物替换。对儿童（<12岁）进行恢复性干预尤其困难，因为组织较软，蛋白质含量较高。目前，TSL的管理还没有永久的解决方案。本项目的目标是提供一个原型设备，集成诊断成像和材料输送系统，用于恢复酸侵蚀的牙釉质。以前的体外工作已经证明，在脉冲激光烧结过程中，生物矿物质会产生最小的热量。对于临床商业化，该技术需要市售的超快飞秒高重复频率激光，材料传输系统，诊断成像技术（例如光学相干断层扫描- OCT）和监测温度的准确方法，所有这些都集成到一个舒适地放入口中的设备中。（利兹- UoL和圣安德鲁-美国），一家牙科公司（Attenborough Dental- AD），一家激光公司（M平方激光- MSL），机械工程和流体处理专家（ICMEA（UK）- ICMEA），电子学专家（C21 IoT -- C21）和一家材料/物理创新公司（淡水河谷创新-六）通过开发一种简单的治疗TSL的系统，该财团相信他们可以消除英国数百万人的牙痛，并恢复饮食和其他生活方式为成千上万受影响更严重的人提供选择。"

"Lifestyle dependent acid-induced erosion of dental enamel is common in the world's population (76% in the UK in 2009) leading to Tooth Surface Loss (TSL). TSL is also caused by acid reflux, common in diabetes, and from regurgitation e.g. anorexia. Chronic cases severely compromise lifestyle. In extreme cases, the tooth requires extraction, to be replaced with a transplant/ implant. Restorative intervention for children (<12 years) is especially difficult, as tissue is softer with more protein content. At present there is no permanent solution for the management of TSL.The objective of this project is to deliver a prototype device integrated with diagnostic imaging and materials delivery system for restoring acid-eroded enamel.Previous ex vivo work has demonstrated during pulsed-laser-sintering of damaged enamel with bio-minerals generates minimum heat. For clinical commercialisation, this technology requires a commercially available ultrafast (femtosecond (fs)) high-repetition rate laser, materials delivery system, diagnostic imaging techniques (e.g. optical coherence tomography - OCT) and an accurate method of monitoring the temperature, all integrated into a device that fits comfortably inside mouth.The consortium of two universities (Leeds -- UoL and St. Andrew's -- USTAN), a dental company (Attenborough Dental -- AD), a laser company (M Squared Lasers -- MSL), a mechanical engineering and fluid handling specialist (ICMEA (UK) -- ICMEA), an electronics specialist (C21 IoT -- C21) and a materials/physics innovation company (Vale Innovation -- VI) are uniquely positioned to take this development forwards.By developing a simple system for treating TSL the consortium believe they can eliminate dental pain for millions in the UK alone and restore dietary and other lifestyle choices for thousands that are more severely affected."