Transparent mouthguard developed to detect tooth decay

In 2018 it is estimated that £332.6 billion was spent on tooth decay treatment around the world. Now biomedical engineer Jianhua Zhou at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China and his team have developed a simple and affordable fluorescent mouthguard made from a zinc oxide-poly(dimethlysiloxane) nanocomposite that can detect the early signs of tooth decay and periodontitis. It reacts with the volatile sulphur compounds released by bacteria in the mouth and stops fluorescing around those sites.

In tests on humans, the transparent mouthguard successfully identified sites of dental lesions when worn for seven hours and can be worn during the day or at night time, just like a regular mouth guard for teeth grinding for example. The team are now developing the new mouthguards in a variety of sizes to suit the target market, and then intend to mass produce them for large-scale screening and estimate a retail price of around £2.40–£3.60.

Jianhua Zhou said: “The ZnO-PDMS mouthguard displays high stability, good biocompatibility, and low biological toxicity in normal physiological environments. Due to its low cost, long-term stability, and good patient compliance, our wearable mouthguard is suitable for large-scale, preliminary screening of dental lesions prior to dental clinics and routine physical examinations.”

By way of caution, James Fernando, a dental practitioner and research fellow at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said: “It is exciting to hear of any new device that has the potential to improve oral health, especially a diagnostic aid”….however….”I do not envision a scenario where a dental practitioner would not examine the whole mouth based on site specific markers of tooth decay and periodontitis produced by such a device. There are numerous other oral health concerns that would necessitate a thorough oral examination.”