A novel mineralization-inducing membrane for promoting periodontal attachment

牙周病是影响超过1.2亿北美成年人的高患病率牙龈感染。在牙周炎中， 细菌入侵破坏了健康牙齿中通常存在的牙龈和牙根之间的密封。这导致 破坏连接牙根和颌骨的韧带，最终导致牙齿脱落。尽管高 牙周感染的患病率和重大的经济负担，仍然存在有效和持久的主要障碍， 治疗主要的障碍是牙龈在清除细菌后重新附着在牙齿上 存款如果不重新形成这个密封，下面的组织就不能正常愈合。我们开发了一种新的膜 能够实现这种密封。我们在这个项目中的目标是优化膜的设计和测试它在一个小动物 模型，作为将这项新技术应用于临床实践的关键一步。

Periodontal diseases are high-prevalence gum infections that affect over 120 million North American adults. In periodontitis, bacterial invasion destroys the seal between the gums and tooth root that is normally present in healthy teeth. This leads to destruction of the ligament that attaches the tooth root to the jawbone, and eventual loss of the tooth. Despite the high prevalence and significant economic burden of periodontal infections, there remain major obstacles to effective and longlasting treatment. The principal obstacle is the reattachment of the gums to the tooth after it has been cleaned of bacterial deposits. Without reforming this seal, the tissues underneath cannot heal properly. We have developed a novel membrane that is able to achieve this seal. Our objective in this project is to optimize the membrane design and test it in a small animal model, as a critical step towards bringing this new technology to clinical practice.