Oral Health and Dental Management

Microfabricated biocatalytic fuel cells: A new approach to accelerating the orthodontic tooth movement

4^th Asia Pacific Congress & Expo on Dental and Oral Health

July 27-29, 2015 Brisbane, Australia

Jafar Kolahi1 and Saber Khazaei2

Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Oral Health Dent Manag

Abstract:

Introduction: Orthodontic patients frequently complain about the long duration of their treatment. Increasing the speed of tooth movement can solve this dilemma. Many chemical and physical agents are useful as adjuncts to the mechanical forces in accelerating orthodontic tooth movement. One of potent tools that could accelerate orthodontic tooth movement is electricity. Animal experiments indicate that when 15?20 microamperes of low direct current (dc) is applied to the alveolar bone, modified the bioelectric potential, osteoblasts and periodontal ligament cells demonstrate increased concentrations of the second messengers cAMP and cGMP and consequently acceleration of orthodontic tooth movement. The main clinical problem with this concept is the source of electricity for intraoral use. Patients do not tolerate easily usual power sources, such as miniature mercury cells. The hypothesis: This hypothesis tries to promote biotechnology to clinical dentistry. In recent years, there has been remarkable progress in research on implantable devices. An enzymatic micro-battery, which is placed on the gingiva near the alveolar bone, might be apossible electrical power source for accelerating orthodontic tooth movement. These devices use glucose as the fuel (Glucose + O2? Gluconolactone+ H2O/H2O2). Implantable enzymatic micro-batteries are non-invasive, and are not osseo integrated. After application of low direct curin this fashion, the electric device can be easily removed. Due to the very small size of these devices, the procedure can be done with no tissue injury. Evaluation of the hypothesis: Nowadays microfabricated enzyme batteries have recently been constructed, designed to function as a power supply for microsurgery robots or artificial organs and continuous glucose monitoring devices. However, in a critical point of view, there are several questions regarding this hypothesis. Is a micro fabricated enzyme battery tolerated by the oral tissues? Is there a risk of tissue damage? What is the effect of foods with different range of temperatures and pH on the output of the enzyme battery? Will Lifetime and power density of microfabricated enzyme batteries be enough for a long time orthodontic treatment?