Tooth sensitivity could be cured by putting robots in your mouth

Having hypersensitive teeth can be quite the hassle, making it painful to consume hot, cold, sweet and/or acidic foods and beverages. Tiny new "robots" are help to help, by permanently plugging tunnels in the teeth for less discomfort.

Building upon a previous study, the nanoscale "CalBot" robots are being developed by scientists at the Indian Institute of Science's Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE). Each of the bots is in fact a 400-nanometer-wide magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle, which is doped with a proprietary calcium-silicate-based bioceramic material.

After the CalBots are placed on the surface of the teeth, an externally applied magnetic field is used to steer chains of them down into tiny fluid-filled tunnels known as tubules. Each tubule runs through the tooth's dentin layer, directly to a nerve ending within the tooth's pulp.

The scientists started out by experimenting on human teeth extracted for clinical reasons. After 20 minutes of magnetic field exposure, the CalBots were found to have formed "deep, stable plugs" in the exposed tubules in all the teeth.

In subsequent tests performed on mice, CalBot treatment caused animals with induced tooth sensitivity to begin drinking cold water, which they previously passed over for room-temperature water.

Image source: Shanmukh Peddi, Debayan Dasgupta.