New approach improves drug delivery for dental applications

Microparticles based on hydroxyapatite, calcium carbonate, or calcium citrate and cross-linked gels loaded with a drug such as eugenol or arginine are able to occlude dentinal tubules and release on-demand a cargo drug to the oral cavity and to the pulp of the tooth, providing both desensitizing, antibacterial or any other effect depending on the drug cargo.

Applications

• Components of toothpastes, dental floss and other dentifrices intended to address tooth hypersensitivity and prevent tooth decay
• Topical desensitizing and antibacterial treatments at the dentist’s office

Advantages

• Dual use of materials for tooth desensitization and drug delivery
• The rate of drug release sharply increases under acidic conditions characteristic for the tooth areas affected by bacteria and starting to decay
• Nontoxic but unstable calcium carbonate microparticles are now available for tooth desensitization and drug delivery due to our method of their stabilization with nontoxic casein