Successfully researched nano-sized robot to destroy bacteria in tooth pulp

Recently, scientists said that they are working on using a nano-sized robot controlled by magnetic fields to destroy bacteria deep inside the teeth, helping to increase the success rate of the dental pulp treatment process after the treatment. life has been eliminated.

Root canal treatment is a type of dental surgery performed to treat a tooth infection in a patient.

The procedure begins with the removal of infected soft tissue inside the tooth, called the pulp, and then rinses the tooth with antibiotics or chemicals to kill the bacteria causing the infection.

However, the most difficult problem after surgery is that bacteria often cannot be completely eliminated, especially antibiotic-resistant bacteria like Enterococcus faecalis, which often hide in microscopic tubes in the teeth, called the tooth canal.

That's why scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and a startup funded by IISc, conducted research using nanorobots to eliminate bacteria in the canals of teeth.

"The canals are very small and that's where bacteria hide deep inside," said Shanmukh Srinivas, research associate at the Center for Nanoscience and Engineering (CeNSE), IISc, and co-founder of Theranautilus. Most current techniques are not capable of going deep into tubes and killing bacteria.

In research published in Advanced Healthcare Materials, the team designed spiral nanobots made of iron-coated silicon dioxide, which are controlled by a device that generates a low-intensity magnetic field. The nanobots were then injected into the completely extracted tooth samples, whose movements were monitored under a microscope.

By adjusting the frequency of the magnetic field, the team was able to direct the nanobot to move deep inside the tooth canals. 'We were set up to be able to safely remove them from the patient's teeth,' says Srinivas.

Nanobot kills bacteria through heat on the surface, adjustable with a magnetic device. "There's no other technology on the market that can do this at the moment," said Debayan Dasgupta, research associate at CeNSE and another Theranautilus co-founder.

Left: Nanobots entering the root canal. The middle and bottom images say: The image of the nanobot moving through the root canal to reach the bacterial area. Right: Microscopic image of how local heat from a nanobot can kill bacteria. Live bacteria are green and dead bacteria are red. The bottom right shows where the treatment was performed on a human tooth

In the past, medical science has used ultrasound/laser pulses to create shock waves in chemicals injected into the teeth, thereby helping to expel bacteria and tissue debris. However, the above method is not so effective because laser pulses can only penetrate 800 micrometers, plus the energy they generate is dissipated very quickly.

However, the nanobot can penetrate as deep as the operator wants, up to 2,000 micrometers. In addition, this method is also more effective and safer as it uses heat instead of harsh chemicals or antibiotics.

The team tested the dental nanobots in a mouse model and found them to be safe and effective. They are also developing a new type of medical device that can fit in the mouth, allowing dentists to inject and manipulate nanobots with ease.

'We are very close to implementing the new technology in a clinical setting,' said Ghosh. If successful, this invention will affect many people with tooth infection problems around the world, including India.