Getting your teeth into texture analysis of dental products
2 minute read
Why bother to floss? Periodontal disease is one of the most prevalent degenerative conditions in this country, afflicting adults beginning in their late 20's.
It is the disease that causes people to lose their teeth by slowly dissolving the supporting bone structure surrounding teeth. The most common symptoms of the disease are bad breath and bleeding gums.
Flossing is a simple oral hygiene procedure that, when performed daily, can ensure healthy gums and teeth that last a lifetime. Experts say it's as indispensable to a healthy mouth as brushing, yet most people find it uncomfortable and don't do it regularly. Modern dentistry and dental products have begun to address the problem of plaque buildup which causes periodontal disease.
New toothbrush designs, mouthwash and toothpaste formulations are being produced specifically to address the need for plaque reduction. For a manufacturer of dental floss wishing to compare smoothness of different formulations and compare with competitive samples we recommended the following test which produced comparative graphs as shown:
The Abrasion Test Rig provides the means to test dental floss smoothness or abrasive strip smoothness
The above test fixture was designed at Stable Micro Systems to originally provide a method of assessing the abrasion and/or frictional properties of abrasive strips by measuring the force resulting from the sliding of these strips against a ceramic cylinder during a tensile test on a TA.XTplus Texture Analyser. Exponent software is then employed to analyse the multi-peak force profiles obtained and apply special calculations to highlight differences between different grades, manufacturers etc. of abrasive strips.
Dental abrasives (or Interproximal dental strips) testing
Abrasive strips are widely used in modern dentistry today. They are usually thin, flexible, one-sided abrasive strips and are available in various sizes and grits, e.g., fine, medium and coarse, which are moved back and forth between the teeth to shape the actual sides of the teeth.
In the discipline of orthodontics it is often necessary to reduce tooth structure interproximally to correct for inadequate space caused by dental crowding and in restorative dentistry to trim or contour various types of restorative materials such as amalgam, composite resin or porcelain (dental veneers).
Recent academic dental applications
- Novel coating materials for glassionomer cement: formulation characteristics, surface adhesion and impact on microhardness.
- Correlating instrumental textural properties to human sensory data using biomimetic molar probes: Case study with hazelnuts
- Research on the development of the composition of complex action dental films with calcium hydroxyapatite
- Design of a Foam-Actuated Nano-Emulgel for Perioceutic Drug Delivery: Formulation, Characterization, and Antimicrobial Efficacy
- Development and Evaluation of Cellulosic Esters Solvent Removal-Induced In Situ Matrices for Loading Antibiotic Drug for Periodontitis Treatment
