Apollonia – the next level of dental care

与生活方式相关的酸引起的牙釉质侵蚀在世界人口中很常见(2009年英国有76%)，导致牙面缺失(TSL)。TSL也是由酸反流引起的，这在糖尿病中很常见，也是由反流引起的，例如厌食症。慢性病严重影响人们的生活方式。在极端情况下，牙齿需要拔除，然后用移植/植入物取代。对儿童(12岁)进行恢复性干预尤其困难，因为组织更柔软，蛋白质含量更高。目前，TSL的治疗还没有永久性的解决方案，本项目的目标是提供一种集成了诊断成像和材料输送系统的原型装置，用于修复酸蚀的牙釉质。以前的体外工作已经证明，在脉冲激光烧结受损牙釉质的过程中，生物矿物产生的热量最少。对于临床商业化，这项技术需要商业上可获得的超快(飞秒)高重复频率激光、材料输送系统、诊断成像技术(例如光学相干断层扫描-OCT)和精确的温度监测方法，所有这些都集成到一个可以舒适地放入口腔内的设备中。两所大学(利兹大学-UOL和圣安德鲁大学-USTAN)、一家牙科公司(Attenborough Dental-AD)、一家激光公司(M Squared Lasers-MSL)、机械工程和流体处理专家(ICMEA(UK)-ICMEA)、一家电子专家(C21物联网--C21)和一家材料/物理创新公司(淡水河谷创新--VI)处于独特的地位，可以推动这一发展。通过开发一种简单的治疗TSL的系统，该财团相信，他们可以仅在英国就消除数百万人的牙痛，并恢复数千人的饮食和其他生活方式选择，这些人受到的影响更严重。

"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."