10.3.10 Denture Base and Liners

In prosthetic dentistry, acrylic polymers are used in the fabrication of artificial teeth,

denture repair, crown and bridges, impression trays and obturators of cleft palates.

Nanosized fillers are being used due to their superior dispersion properties, less

aggregation potential, and biocompatibility with the organic polymer. Polymethyl

methacrylate (PMMA) based denture materials with nano-hydroxyapatite (HAP)

and nano-alumina (Al2O3) particles shows improved fracture resistance (Mousavi

et al. 2020). The addition of zirconium oxide nanoparticles significantly improves

hardness levels, flexural strength and fracture toughness of the heat-cured PMMA

denture base (Gad and Abualsaud 2019).

10.3.11 Nano-Impressions

Good impression precedes precise construction of an appliance. Nanofillers are

added to the impression material (vinyl polysiloxanes) to enhance its properties.

Such nano-impression material has better flow, improved hydrophilic properties,

fewer voids at the margin, better model pouring & enhanced detail precision (Verma

et al. 2010).

10.3.12 Targeted Drug Delivery

The sub-micron size makes the nanoparticles a suitable candidate for targeted drug

delivery. The prerequisites for an ideal drug delivery system are that they should be

biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic and long-lasting enough to permit an

effective dosage delivery and action. Additionally, such systems should be so

designed to allow for a scheduled drug delivery (Izadi et al. 2020). Furthermore,

such targeted drugs can be designed to avoid the first-pass metabolism. They can be

fabricated with additional optical and electrical properties that can locate the drug

intracellularly. Extensive research is being conducted to utilise liposomes, solid

biodegradable nanoparticles, micelles, dendrimers, polymers, nano-diamonds,

nano-gold particles and nanogel for the targeted drug delivery.

10.3.13 Nano-Needles and Nano-Tweezers

Contemporary medicine has unveiled the concept of cell surgery that involves

modification of the subcellular components and/or organelles for disease treatment.

To perform cell surgery, nano-needles (nanosized needles made up of stainless steel)

are being designed and fabricated, wherein specific cell structure like nucleus could

be reached with utmost precision. Furthermore, to make cell surgery possible, nano-

tweezers—based on carbon nanotubes—have been developed. These tweezers are so

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