For the last few decades, dental high technology has focused largely on implants; but thanks to Dr. Tarek El-Bialy of the University of Alberta, these might soon be a thing of the past.
Dr. El-Bialy’s LIPUS (low-intensity pulsed ultrasound) system uses a small wireless ultrasound device, inserted in the mouth, to repair teeth. LIPUS stimulates specific cell signalling that can produce tissue matrix proteins, repairing broken tooth roots. This could mean fewer implants, and better overall dental health.
LIPUS has been used since early 1980s, mainly for bone-fracture healing and to heal other tissue, such as tendons and skin ulcers. Dr. El-Bialy first discovered that ultrasound can stimulate dental tissue formation in rabbits in 1999, when he cut the lower jaw to lengthen it and applied LIPUS to help bone formation at the surgical cut site. The rabbit teeth start to grow faster on the treated side than on the non-treated side. He published the results of this experiment in the American Journal of Orthodontics.
Following his research on the animal model, Dr. El-Bialy started working on human teeth that undergo shortening (resorption) in people who wear orthodontic braces. He found LIPUS can prevent this shortening from happening by a daily 20-minute application over four weeks.
The handheld device used in the above research was cumbersome, however. So, over the last few years, his team has been developing a refined prototype that can be used inside the mouth.
The miniaturized device is now undergoing electronic and biological testing, and a completed version should be ready to start clinical trials by November 2008.
Dr. El-Bialy cites funding as a challenge, as well as perceptions of the new technology by scientists. His team—which includes University of Alberta electrical/computer engineers Jie Chen and Ying Tsui—received an NSERC Idea to Innovation (I2I) grant and an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), which helped considerably.
Dr. El-Bialy is one of the newest faculty members at the university, but brings considerable expertise and perspective, thanks to training in orthodontics, law, and bioengineering from Egypt, the US, and Canada.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Tarek El-Bialy
University of Alberta,
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
4051 Dent/Pharm Bldg.
Graduate Orthodontic Program
Edmonton, AB T6G 2N8
telbialy@ualberta.ca
