DENTAL IMPLANT WITH SLOW-RELEASE DRUG RESERVOIR REDUCES INFECTION RISK

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Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Published: Thursday 19 January 2017

Scientists have developed a dental implant containing a reservoir for the slow release of drugs. Laboratory tests in which the reservoir slowly released a strong antimicrobial agent showed that the new implant can prevent and eliminate bacterial biofilms - a major cause of infection associated with dental implants.

The researchers, from various departments at KU Leuven in Belgium, describe how they designed and tested the implant in a paper published in the journal European Cells & Materials.

Lead author Dr. Kaat De Cremer, from the Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics at KU Leuven, explains that the reservoir in the implant can be filled by removing the cover screw. 

She adds that:

"The implant is made of a porous composite material, so that the drugs gradually diffuse from the reservoir to the outside of the implant, which is in direct contact with the bone cells. As a result, the bacteria can no longer form a biofilm."

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