Bioglass…A Paradigm Shift And Smart Fillings

“The Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth”
By Chris “Dr Smile Maker” Branfield
Bioglass…A Paradigm Shift And Smart Fillings

Hello again. I hope that you are well. There’s been no let up this month. We are constantly looking for better ways do to do stuff and how technology can help.

We are very close to drastically reducing the number of conventional impressions we need to take because of advancements in technology. Exciting stuff.

Bioglass, What’s That?

A Bioglass is a compound that contains calcium, sodium, silica and phosphorous. It was originally developed by the military to help mend bones back in the late ‘60’s. In 1996 two dentists, almost by accident, found that it can be used to treat tooth sensitivity (now used in Sensodyne Repair and Protect) and this works very well.

The hard crystal in teeth and bones is hydroxyapatite. On contact with water or saliva the glass breaks down and forms hydroxy carbonated apatite (HCA). This is a similar crystal and gives a protective layer or skin on teeth to reduce sensitivity.

Let’s Talk About Fluoride

Oh, I can feel your excitement at that! Pease hang in and bear with me. We’ve known for ages that fluoride reduces tooth decay. As I have said the hard crystal in teeth is hydroxyapatite. When exposed to acid in the diet or that made by bacteria in the mouth from sugar (tooth decay) the apatite breaks down or demineralises.

Fluoride, when available, helps speed up remineralisation of the tooth and actually becomes incorporated in the apatite. It replaces the “hydoxy” bit to make a crystal that is more resistant to acid (fluorapatite). How cool is that? Worth the wait? I’m really quite geeky about this stuff, can you tell?

Now For The Really Clever Stuff

There is now a new Bioglass that has been combined with Fluoride in much lower levels than in conventional toothpaste. A team at Queen Mary University London under the direction of Professor Hill developed a toothpaste that could slowly release fluoride for up to 12 hours. This toothpaste called BioMinF, releases fluoride to fight decay and essential tooth building minerals of calcium and phosphate to rebuild the tooth surface.

This is the Fluorapatite. This is important to reduce decay, acid erosion and tooth sensitivity. Regular fluoride toothpaste and even high concentration fluoride toothpaste have soluble fluoride that is washed away in about 100 minutes. This wastes most of the fluoride. BioMinF is intelligent toothpaste. When the mouth becomes an acidic environment, BioMinF releases additional essential minerals. These minerals actually work to neutralise (stop) the acids in the mouth and protect and repair the tooth surface.

Smart Fillings

There is now work on smart filling materials and dental cements that work in a similar way to the toothpaste so they not only repair the teeth structurally but chemically on the surface as well. Let’s see how that goes, eh. Fingers crossed they cut the mustard.

All The Best To You


Have a fantastic Christmas and best wishes for a great New Year in 2018

Until next time. Take care and be good.




Chris Branfield is Principal Dentist at Castle Park Dental Care, Castle Villa, 28 Castle Road, Cottingham, telephone 01482 772550. He has been in dental practice for 24 years and has a special interest in life changing, pain free dentistry with dental implants, rapid teeth straightening and cosmetic dentistry. And, not only that Chris is founder member and trustee of Dental Mavericks charity- ending the daily dental pain of Moroccan kids. For more patient success stories and Chris’s humanitarian work go here now www.castleparkdental.co.uk