World Dental News

Carbon nanotubes to aid in dental implantology
Monday, March 20, 2006 | gp

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have published findings that show, for the first time, that bone cells can grow and proliferate on a scaffold of carbon nanotubes.The paper, titled Bone Cell Proliferation on Carbon Nanotubes, appears in the March 8 edition of Nano Letters, a journal of the American Chemical Society.Zanello's paper builds on previous research by Haddon which showed that carbon nanotubes could be chemically compatible with bone cells. Zanello's experiment put Haddon's findings to the test and found that the nanotubes, 100,000 times finer than a human hair, are an excellent scaffold for bone cells to grow on. "In the past scientists have been plagued by toxicity issues when combining carbon nanotubes with living cells," Zanello said. "So we have been looking for the most pure nanotubes we could get to reduce the presence of heavy metals that are frequently introduced in the manufacturing process." Because carbon nanotubes are not biodegradable, they behave like an inert matrix on which cells can proliferate and deposit new living material, which becomes functional, normal bone, according to the paper. They therefore hold promise in the treatment of bone defects in humans associated with the removal of tumors, trauma, and abnormal bone development and in dental implants, Zanello added.