first highlighted by Richard Feynman in his talk on There’s Plenty of Room at the

Bottom in 1959. Since then, there has been extensive research on nanotechnology and

its application in science, engineering, agriculture and medicine. One such revolution-

ary change in the dental practice is nanotechnology’s inception into the early diagno-

sis, timely prevention and prompt treatment of oral diseases.

Richard Feynman

1918-1988

Image Source: Wikipedia

The word ‘nano’ is derived from a Greek word meaning ‘dwarf’. It equals one

thousand millionth of a meter (10
⁹ m) (Mansoori and Soelaiman 2005). Nanotech-

nology is defined as the science and technology of engineering matter at a nanoscale

and using the modified properties in various fields of chemistry, physics, medicine

and agriculture to obtain the most effective outcomes (National Nanotechnology

Initiative 2005). This technology’s founding principle is that the active molecule’s

shape and size are designed at a nanometre scale, which helps augment its properties.

Nanotechnology has found profound usage in medical and dental sciences.

Nanodentistry uses the materials of the nanoscale structure for the diagnosis, pre-

vention and treatment of oral diseases. It has found tremendous scope in devising

materials and drugs that exhibit superior benefits in relieving pain, tissue regenera-

tion and improving oral health (Freitas 2000).

10.2

Approaches to Nanodentistry

Nanodentistry is an interdisciplinary science that relies on an amalgamation of

biotechnology and nanomaterials to formulate devices and tools to provide effective

and efficient oral health care. This novel science application is based on three major

approaches: the bottom-up approach, the top-down approach and the functional

approach (Chandki et al. 2012; Freitas 2000) (Fig. 10.1).

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