Americans undergo 15.1 million root canals each year. This painful and invasive procedure is currently the most effective treatment for treating infected or decaying teeth caused by infected nerves or damaged dental pulp. However, root canal treated teeth may be brittle, and are susceptible to fracture and discoloration over time. Furthermore, root canal treatment is unsuitable for immature teeth in most cases. Thus, there is an unmet need for an alternative treatment to replace the injured dental pulp. This technology, BioPulp, provides a system of biomaterials and growth factors capable of replacing decayed teeth without the need for brittle, breakage-prone dental implants. By attracting and growing a patient's own cells, BioPulp can help the body to regenerate dead dental tissue on its own.
The technology establishes methods of generating biologically viable tissue in root canal treated teeth to replace the diseased dental pulp. Instead of directly delivering living cells, the technology uses FDA approved biomaterials delivering bioactive factors to promote formation of viable tissue. Replacement of dental pulp with biologically active tissue may reduce the common long term complications of root canal operations and may render this technique available for treatment of baby teeth.
Patent Pending (US20110171607)
Tech Ventures Reference: IR 2262/2331/CU13249/CU13329