| In the age of Instagram and Snapchat, everyone wants to have perfect pearly whites. To get a brighter smile, consumers can opt for over the counter teeth-whitening treatments or a trip to the dentist to have their teeth bleached professionally. But both types of treatments can harm teeth. | |
| According to an article published in ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering (“Blue-Light -Activated Nano-TiO2@PDA for Highly Effective and Nondestructive Tooth Whitening”), researchers have now developed a new, less destructive method. | |
| Teeth can become discolored on their outer surfaces when people consume colored foods and drinks, such as coffee, tea or red wine. As a result, many people turn to non-invasive whitening treatments that bleach the teeth. | |
| Currently, the most common bleaching agent is hydrogen peroxide, which steals electrons from the pigment molecules that cause teeth discoloration, and this process can be sped up by exposing teeth to blue light. But high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide can break down a tooth’s enamel, causing sensitivity or cell death. | |
| So, Xiaolei Wang, Lan Liao and colleagues wanted to see if a different blue-light-activated compound could be a safer, but still effective, alternative. | |
| The team modified titanium dioxide nanoparticles with polydopamine (nano-TiO2@PDA) so that they could be activated with blue light. |
Image Credit: Alias/ Envato
News This Week
Scientists Just Unveiled The First-Ever Photo of Quantum Entanglement
In an incredible first, scientists have captured the world's first actual photo of quantum entanglement - a phenomenon so strange, physicist Albert Einstein famously described it as 'spooky action at a distance'. The image [...]
Australian Researchers Have Just Released The World’s First AI-Developed Vaccine
A team at Flinders University in South Australia has developed a new vaccine believed to be the first human drug in the world to be completely designed by artificial intelligence (AI). While drugs have [...]
Europe is designing satellites that ‘surf’ their way past space debris
Humans routinely send spacecraft into orbit to ensure services on the ground and to explore other planets. This extraordinary ability comes with a great responsibility: our space activity risks contaminating the space surrounding the [...]
Black (nano) gold to combat climate change
Global warming is a serious threat to the planet and living beings. One of the main causes of global warming is the increase in the atmospheric CO2 level. The main source of this CO2 [...]
Ethics in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Digital information technology has made information readily accessible to practically anyone, anytime and anywhere. This has had a profound effect in shaping all aspects of our society from industrial manufacturing, to distribution, to the [...]
SpaceX targets 2021 commercial Starship launch
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The first commercial mission for SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy launch system will likely take place in 2021, a company executive said June 26. Jonathan Hofeller, SpaceX’s vice president of commercial [...]
How a healthy microbiome could supercharge the body’s natural cancer-fighting cells
The ways in which the communities of bacteria living within our bodies influence our overall well-being are becoming better understood all the time, and with that better understanding comes potential new ways to intervene [...]
Cancer breakthrough: Scientists discover a new Achilles’ Heel of tumors that causes them to self-destruct
Scientists have identified the Achilles' Heel of cancerous tumors, forcing the disease-spreading cells to over-stress and self-destruct. Experiments showed blocking a specific protein that fuels tumors kills them off. The technique worked on a [...]
Leave A Comment