Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Graphene Shows Promise For Super Strong Dental Fillings (elsevier.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the in-your-teeth-and-your-space-elevators dept.

Zothecula writes: A team of researchers from four institutions located in Romania and St. Kitts have worked together to determine whether graphene could be used to create more durable dental materials. They worked to test how toxic (abstract) different forms of the material were to teeth, with promising results. "Typical metal fillings can corrode and composite fillings are not very strong; Graphene, on the other hand, is 200 times stronger than steel and doesn't corrode, making it a prime new candidate for dental fillings."

12 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Black Teeth Is The New Fad by zenlessyank · · Score: 2

    Vamps and Goths will love these.

  2. How the mighty have fallen? by Jfetjunky · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Once graphene had dreams of being the next wonder material. "Better transistors! Stronger than steel!" they sang. But now... Dental fillings.

    1. Re:How the mighty have fallen? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2

      I thought we were supposed to be building space elevators with graphene.

      So what's the plan now . . . we pull people up into space by their teeth . . . ?

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:How the mighty have fallen? by Shoten · · Score: 2

      Once graphene had dreams of being the next wonder material. "Better transistors! Stronger than steel!" they sang. But now... Dental fillings.

      I'm just tired of hearing all the incredible applications for a material that nobody's figured out how to mass-produce economically yet.

      At this point, they may as well be singing the praises of tooth fillings made out of unicorn cum.

      --

      For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
  3. Yeah But by Greyfox · · Score: 3, Informative

    Then your teeth just erode around the fillings. Can I just get a set of permanently-affixed graphene replacement teeth? Then I could bite through cable car cables like that one Bond villain!

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

  4. Graphene Shows Promise...? by sycodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's been showing Promise for lots of things for a long time now. Is is actually USED for anything yet?

    Sheesh, it's becoming just like Fusion.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:Graphene Shows Promise...? by hawkinspeter · · Score: 2

      Not sure how effective it is, but Vittoria are using it in their new road bike tyres: http://road.cc/content/news/16...

      --
      You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
  5. Re: Probably too strong by ledow · · Score: 2

    Really? What's the temperature range of your mouth?

    I doubt ANY material you've heard of expands enough over a typical tooth temperature range to really make it an issue.

  6. Re: Probably too strong by amRadioHed · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you're eating ice cream and hot coffee that's a 200F range, although the exposure times aren't very long, so no idea how much the teeth heat and cool by.

    --
    We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
  7. Re:Probably too strong by hawkinspeter · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Are you sure that was due to thermal expansion and not having an air pocket that expanded due to pressure differences? I know you get issues with air pockets and fillings when diving so it might be possible to get the same going from a mountain top to sea level.

    --
    You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
  8. Re:Probably too strong by whoever57 · · Score: 2

    I'm inclined to think that sensitivity might be caused by the expansion difference, but for it to actually crack the tooth is almost certainly going to take some combination of circumstances like an air pocket or a prolonged period of expansion/contraction

    I am inclined to believe that the explanation was complete BS.

    Some years ago, I had a tooth that had an older amalgam filling completely shatter. What was I doing? I was biting down on ... a chocolate chip. Yeah, at home, normal temperatures and the force of biting down on a chocolate chip was enough to cause the tooth to shatter. So, more likely explanation: there was already enough damage to the tooth that any small pressure could cause the failure.

    The replacement of your other two fillings may well have been unnecessary work just to boost the dentist's income.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
  9. Re:"making it a prime new candidate for dental fil by Anomalyst · · Score: 2

    So exactly how bad are your teeth that the need industrial quantities?

    --
    There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.