It sounds like science fiction doesn’t it? But a new study carried out in the states has discovered that diamonds could help to promote bone growth, increasing the longevity of dental implants in Kent. It’s important to stress that these are not the sparkly diamonds found in rings and other items of jewellery, but instead they are something called nanodiamonds. This type of diamond is created as a by-product of mining and refining conventional diamonds, and each nanodiamond is just 4 to 5 nanometres across and if viewed underneath a microscope would look exactly like a little football.
Researchers are hopeful that their use could help to improve bone growth, and could help to mitigate the effects of a disease called osteonecrosis. This is a condition that breaks down the bones, and if it occurs in the jaw has the potential to stop people from speaking and eating. Anyone with dental implants and who suffers from this condition is likely to find their implants gradually fail.
In order to stop such failures dentists have to continually carry out additional procedures which can be both invasive and expensive. Currently dentists often have to insert a sponge that contains proteins to help promote bone growth, but the use of nanodiamonds could deliver these proteins more effectively. This is due to the fact that the diamonds allow the proteins to be delivered over a longer time. In addition the nanodiamonds can be administered in a way that is non-invasive, for example through an oral rinse or through an injection.
This type of research is pretty exciting, especially as it was originally discovered that nanodiamonds were effective in treating certain forms of cancer, and osteonecrosis is often a side effect of chemotherapy. This discovery led the researchers to investigate whether or not nanodiamonds could help to treat the bone loss associated with osteonecrosis.
Obviously this research holds tremendous potential, but it could be some time before Dr Rik Trivedi is able to treat patients in this way. In the meantime conventional dental implants will work well for most people who are in good general and oral health. Dr. Trivedi has advanced training in implant dentistry and will only recommend dental implants if he thinks they are the right course of treatment for you.
You can book your free initial consultation with Dr. Trivedi simply by giving us a call on 01474 537191. You ‘ll also find lots of information on dental implants on the Parrock Street website, at www.parrockdental.co.uk or you may want to download Dr. Trivedi’s free e-book on dental implants.