Could diamonds be the future of dental implants?

Hip-hop legends and popstars might be known for sporting Grillz jewellery over their teeth, but in the future humans could have diamond-encrusted teeth to improve oral health and fight disease.

Scientists have discovered that tiny spherical diamonds could be used to promote bone growth and improve the durability of dental implants. The miniscule gems, which are invisible to the human eye, could be used to combat forms of bone loss including osteonecrosis, which is a potentially debilitating disease in which bones break down due to reduced blood flow.

Scientists from the UCLA and the NanoCarbon Research Institute in Japan discovered that nanodiamonds - byproducts of conventional mining that are four to five nanometers in diameter - could be used as a delivery system for proteins in the mouth as an improved treatment for osteonecrosis.

Dean Ho, professor of oral biology and medicine at the UCLA School of Dentistry, led the study published in the Journal of Dental Research.

Dr Ho explained that doctors performing bone repair operations, which are typically costly and time consuming, surgically inset a sponge to administer proteins that promote bone growth such as bone morphogenic protein.

His team discovered that using nanodiamonds to deliver these proteins could be more effective in administering the proteins as they quickly bind to the bone. ©Daily Mail,

London