USM SHOWCASES LATEST INNOVATIONS IN THE FIELD OF DENTISTRY

PENANG, 20 Nov – Two researchers from the School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) have successfully created an eco-friendly dental bib and a nanotechnology-based dental filling.

Picture: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zainul (left) and Dr. Dasmawati showing their respective innovations at the press conference in USM here today.

The bib, known as ‘MyDental Bib’ used during dental treatment was developed by a team of researchers led by Assoc. Prof.Dr. Zainul Ahmad Rajion while the nanotechnology-based dental filling or KelFil was developed by a team of researchers led by Dr. Dasmawati Mohamad.

According to Dr. Zainul, in addition to its many other advantages,
‘MyDental Bib’ will help to reduce costs as it made from oil palm waste.

He said that apart from being inexpensive, ‘MyDental Bib’ has been scientifically proven to be more durable compared to the products currently available in the market. In addition, it uses green technology as the productis bio-degradable.

"MyDental Bib is a mixture of paper and bio-degradable plastic. The paper layer is produced from oil palm cellulose fibre,” he said at the press conference, here recently.

He added that ‘MyDental Bib’ has a higher tensile strength under dry and wet conditions and the cost of the product is estimated at RM 0.07 compared to commercial bibs (RM 0.17).

Dr. Zainul said that MyDental Bib has the capacity to not only replace the use of commercial bibs especially in clinics throughout the country but also to reduce the flow of foreign exchange.

He added that using Hospital USM (HUSM) in Kubang Kerian as an example, the average number of patients who come for dental treatment in one day is close to 500.“For 500 patients who come for treatment, we use a minimum of 1 000 bibs a day and in view of the fact that there is a local product as an alternative, it will be a huge loss if we depend solely on imported bibs,” he explained.

MyDental Bib was developed with the expertise of researchers from the School of Industrial Technology and the School of Materials Engineering and Mineral Resources. It is currently undergoing clinical trials in HUSM and is yet to be commercialized as it is still in the process of being patented.

Meanwhile, Dasmawati said that the advantages of the nanotechnology-based dental filling lie in its unique charateristics, including the colour, which is almost similar to the original colour of human teeth.

She added that the product is non-toxic and has characteristics such as high density, hardness, water absorption and solubility, all of which meet international ISO standards.

“KelFil is believed to have the same durability as the commercial fillings, that is, up to eight years but can be obtained at a much cheaper cost. Currently, the market price for a four-gram tube of nanocomposite (filling) is RM 200.00 but the cost of the nanotechnology-based dental filling is only RM 120.00,” she said.

Published: 25 Nov 2009

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