A team of Brown University engineers, led by Thomas Webster, has discovered a new material that could significantly increase osseointegration success rate. Osteoblasts grow faster and produce more calcium on anodized titanium covered in carbon nanotubes compared with plain anodized titanium and the non-anodized version currently used in orthopaedic implants. The work, published in Nanotechnology, uncovers a new material that can be used to make more successful implants. The research also shows tantalizing promise for an all-new device: a “smart” implant that can sense and report on bone growth

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E-Mail This     Topic: Research

Straumann has released their new implant - the `bone level` implant. It features the SLActive surface all the way up to the top of the implant. The abutments are anatomically shaped and feature a `platform-switching` concept. It appears that this design is a response to concerns regarding esthetics and recession with implants in the esthetic zone. Straumann reports that `Intermediate data from the first clinical study show excellent esthetic results with regard to both hard and soft tissues indicating a low risk for recession and no esthetic complications.` The BLI implant is available in a limited market release in the US.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Implant Design

The new method exploits a membrane-spanning protein called TRPV1, which is unique to pain-sensing neurons. TRPV1 forms a large channel, where molecules can enter and exit the cell. But a “gate” typically blocks this opening. The gate opens when cells are exposed to heat or the chili-pepper ingredient capsaicin. Thus, bathing pain-sensing neurons in capsaicin leaves these channels open, but non-pain sensing neurons are unaffected because they do not possess TRPV1.

“We’re optimistic that this method will eventually be applied to humans and change our experience during procedures ranging from knee surgery to tooth extractions,” adds Professor Clifford Woolf of Massachusetts General Hospital, who is senior author on the study Despite enormous investments by industry, surgical pain management has changed little since the first successful demonstration of ether general anesthesia at MGH in 1846. General and local anesthetics work by interfering with the excitability of all neurons, not just pain-sensing ones. Thus, these drugs produce dramatic side effects, such as loss of consciousness in the case of general anesthetics or temporary paralysis for local anesthetics. “We’re offering a targeted approach to pain management that avoids these problems,” says Woolf. “Eventually this method could completely transform surgical and post-surgical analgesia, allowing patients to remain fully alert without experiencing pain or paralysis,” says Woolf.

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Implant Logic Systems is a service which both plans implant positioning and manufactures a custom surgical drill guide to place the implants according to the treatment plan. They use both `Simplant` and a custom software package, VIP, to plan the implant position using CT-Scan data. Their Pilot Compu-Guide Drill Kit is used to ensure accurate osteotomy positioning using the custom designed drill guide and sleeves.

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A Washington State disciplinary board has fined a Lynnwood dentist $10,000, suspended his license at least through the end of the year and ordered him to take 41 hours of continuing education courses. The case involved a patient treated between June 2004 and November 2006 who needed nine dental implants. In its order, the commission found that the dentist failed to adequately examine, assess, evaluate, diagnose or develop a treatment plan for the patient. He did not adequately check out the patient`s complaints of severe pain during eight follow up visits after the surgery. One of implants had either been installed in or had migrated into the patient`s sinus cavity, the commission found. No X-rays were taken for six months following the surgery, according to the disciplinary board. The dentist also prescribed more than 3,148 tablets of two narcotics for pain, Oxycodone and Percocet, during a 29-month period ending in November 2006. The commission said that he did not document the reasons for prescribing the high levels of narcotics, calling it extremely excessive. The commission officially suspended his license for seven years. However, the suspension could be put on hold after Jan. 1 if he meets the continuing education, mentoring and other requirements specified in the order. The dentist`s attorney has requested reconsideration of one part of the order, which prevents him from doing surgical implant procedures.

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Professor Markus Buehler of MIT`s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has revealed for the first time the role of bone`s atomistic structure in a toughening mechanism that incorporates two theories previously proposed by researchers eager to understand the secret behind the material`s lightweight strength. He studied the molecular structure of the mineralized collagen fibrils that make up level 2 bone, hoping to find the mechanism behind bone`s strength, which is considerable for such a lightweight, porous material. When pressure is applied to the fabric-like fibrils, some of the weak bonds between the collagen molecules and crystals break, creating small gaps or stretched areas in the fibrils. This stretching spreads the pressure over a broader area, and in effect, protects other, stronger bonds within the collagen molecule itself, which might break outright if all the pressure were focused on them. The stretching also lets the tiny crystals shift position in response to the force, rather than shatter, which would be the likely response of a larger crystal.

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The left side of Lincoln`s face was much smaller than the right, an aberration called cranial facial microsomia. The defect joins a long list of ailments - including smallpox, heart illness and depression - that modern doctors have diagnosed in Lincoln. Laser scans of two life masks, made from plaster casts of Lincoln`s face, reveal the 16th president`s unusual degree of facial asymmetry. The scanning technique is usually used to create 3-D images of children with cleft lip and palate before and after surgery. Dr. Ronald Fishman, who led the study published in the August issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology teamed up with Dr. Adriana Da Silveira, an Austin, Texas, orthodontist who specializes in children with facial defects, to scan a bronze and a plaster copy of two life masks, owned by the Chicago History Museum.

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Tissue Engineering Researchers at the University of Tokyo Hospital and venture company Next 21 are using 3D inkjet printers to produce tailor-made artificial bones for use in facial reconstructive surgery. To make an artificial bone with this technology, a 3D computer model of the bone is first created based on the patient’s X-ray and CT scan data. The computer model is then sliced into a large number of cross-sections and the data is sent to a special 3D inkjet printer, which works like an ordinary inkjet printer by transferring tiny droplets of liquid onto a surface. However, unlike ordinary printers that print on paper, this one prints onto thin layers of powdered alpha-tricalcium phosphate (alpha-TCP). The “ink” is a water-based polymer adhesive that hardens the alpha-TCP it comes into contact with. By repeatedly laying down the powder and printing successive layers on top of one another, the printer is able to physically reproduce the desired bone to an accuracy of one millimeter

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E-Mail This     Topic: Bone Grafting

Straumann has released a set of drill stops for use with their single-use implant drills. The color coded drill stops come in a kit designed for a specific depth e.g 8mm. The small size of the drill stops offer an optimum view of the treatment area and openings on the drill stops facilitate irrigation and removal of bone chips.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Drill Design

Drillstops.com has released a series of drill stops designed for use with the Straumann and compatible systems. They also have an adjustable depth guide which features analogs of the narrow, standard and wide neck implant platforms allowing for a more accurate visualization of the position of the implant neck.

The gauge has been renamed `Verban Depth Gauge` after its inventor Dr. Emil Verban.

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E-Mail This     Topic: Implant Placement Guides