News Main
Animals
Archaeology
Dinosaurs
Earth
History
Human Animal
Space
Tech

Take Your Medicine, or Try This Tooth

Tracy Staedter, Discovery News

In clinical studies, the researchers successfully tested a variety drugs, including naltrexone, a drug used to treat addictions, and galantamine, an agent used to manage Alzheimer's.

In a later system, the team hopes to use radio-frequency identification or wireless phones to communicate with the system.

"The potential of a device like this for dentistry is that it could deliver a therapeutic agent in the mouth," said John Yagiela, professor in the School of Dentistry and chair of the Division of Diagnostic and Surgical Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles.

For example, a drug that targets the bacteria that can cause cavities. But the downside is that it needs space in the mouth that might not exist.

"Not a lot of people are missing two molar teeth," said Yagiela.

Still, said Wolff, with adequate funding, the IntelliDrug device could be on the market within two years.

Related Links:

Tracy Staedter's blog: What the Tech?

IntelliDrug