Recent Nanotech Advancement: Regrowable Teeth!

Source

Quote:

"Right now, we plan to use it to fix fractured or diseased teeth, as well as asymmetric jawbones, but it may also help hockey players or children who had their tooth knocked out," Jie Chen, an engineering professor and nano-circuit design expert, told AFP.

Chen helped create the tiny ultrasound machine that gently massages gums and stimulates tooth growth from the root once inserted into a person's mouth, mounted on braces or a removable plastic crown.

The wireless device, smaller than a pea, must be activated for 20 minutes each day for four months to stimulate growth, he said.

It can also stimulate jawbone growth to fix a person's crooked smile and may eventually allow people to grow taller by stimulating bone growth, Chen said.

Interesting developments as well as applications, no? I give props to the Canucks. Very nice, guys =) Nano tech holla.

Discuss! (I lol'd at the pic in the article ;D) An early stage of medical nanotechology!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

(Assuming this is real news...)

I think this is wonderful news, but the uses they described do kind of file under "Cosmetic/Elective surgery." So a person is missing a tooth or two. So what if a person has a slightly crooked smile. We can live without those things.

On a personal note: I would be first in line to get this kind of thing done. I have many crowns on my teeth, and although they look good, they aren't natural.

Growing taller is interesting, but I don't need it. I could see really short people having this done, but I doubt the body would adjust to it very well. Could have mishapen people lurking about!

How ya doing, buddy?

After reading this I've always been a little worried about nanotechnology. Then again, if the concept is so feasible, I'd think something like this would have already happened in the universe.

Originally Posted by rendr

(Assuming this is real news...)

I think this is wonderful news, but the uses they described do kind of file under "Cosmetic/Elective surgery." So a person is missing a tooth or two. So what if a person has a slightly crooked smile. We can live without those things.

There's a lot of things one can live without, such as indoor plumbing and microwaves.

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I think that if this works and becomes commonly used, you will have to get yourself a new avatar

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Gently massaging gums for 20 minutes a day for months.
I would be reluctant to try that since I keep thinking of the weird sensation of expecting a certain feeling from being massaged over a long period of time. Once you stop, I'm also picturing that you can feel the tooth growing in due to the increased activity in the area, but that's just me.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Bear in mind that this could be used to help heal bones faster by proxy somewhere down the medical line. Could directly apply this to wound healing rates eventually as well. You may not think much of it, but think of the furthered applications further along in the near future.

Cherrypop --
I need a new av/sig anyhow ;_;

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Waitwaitwaitwait. They can REGROW teeth?? *Slaps money on the table* Sign me up! My teeth are so bad, ever since I was a kid (a babysitter gave me sugared milk to shut me up as a baby), and I get cavities easily. I have so many fillings, it's not even funny. I'd definitely be up for this, if it really works.

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That's pretty awesome stuff there. Well if I ever get teeth knocked out, then I know I can regrow them back.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I'm actually like 4 teeth short of my adult teeth. Ever since taking out a number of baby teeth so many years ago they have yet to grow. Surely they can fix me up and let me have my teeth?

How ya doing, buddy?

I wonder if this can be used on the fingers to give me that octave-and-a-half reach on the piano I have always dreamed of.:dopey_love:

Does anyone else think that the application of the buzz-word "nanotechnology" is invalid in this case? The only thing "nano" about it is probably some of the circuitry, which is most likely nothing truly new to the electronic world.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I have like 3 or 4 fucked up teeth, so maybe I'll get this done in the future... and I'm over 6' tall so the height growth is meaningless to me

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by packrat

Does anyone else think that the application of the buzz-word "nanotechnology" is invalid in this case? The only thing "nano" about it is probably some of the circuitry, which is most likely nothing truly new to the electronic world.

How is it invalid? Even if the circuitry is "nano," then it's nanotechnology. The object, as stated in the article, is smaller than a pea. And this is a pretty sophisticated piece of hardware. It's gotta have an internal battery, circuitry, and the hardware with the ability to send out these massaging vibes to the gums. Twenty minutes a day for months on end without changing out. That's pretty sophisticated, y'know.

Plus, it's hand-in-hand with medical works. Which is very good.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Gechmir

How is it invalid? Even if the circuitry is "nano," then it's nanotechnology. The object, as stated in the article, is smaller than a pea. And this is a pretty sophisticated piece of hardware.

How small must something be for it to be considered "nano?" If you are referring to circuitry, then shouldn't we be calling modern computers nanotechnology? If not that, then is it dependent upon the scale of the devices itself?

Originally, the phrase "nanotechnology" was conservatively applied to devices and machinery which operated and were manufactured solely on an extremely small scale, particularly nanometers.

Although the device is damn small, it is not "nano" scale. It irritates me to no end when people toss around that magical buzzword "nano" frivolously. At one time, marketing people were even calling some stain-repellant pants "nanotechnology." Honestly, what the fuck is that?

Quote:

Plus, it's hand-in-hand with medical works. Which is very good.

That doesn't make it any more "nano" than a micropipette.

No offense to you though. It is a personal crusade against marketing misnomers which I have been waging.

EDIT:
One more thing.

Quote:

That's pretty sophisticated, y'know.

That right there displays the popular but invalid understanding of what "nano" means. It reveals your core interpretation(and many others) of the prefix "nano" to mean sophisticated. However, sophistication does not justify the given label.

I was speaking idiomatically.

When this comes to a dentist near me, I'll take one canine and one molar, please. They have caps, and they look just fine, but they don't feel right.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Heh. Attacking my use of the term "sophisticated"? That's rather strange. HAY IPODS PLAY LOTSA MUSIC. Must be nanotechnology 'cuz I said it was sophisticated~

Originally Posted by packrat

How small must something be for it to be considered "nano?" If you are referring to circuitry, then shouldn't we be calling modern computers nanotechnology? If not that, then is it dependent upon the scale of the devices itself?

...

Although the device is damn small, it is not "nano" scale. It irritates me to no end when people toss around that magical buzzword "nano" frivolously. At one time, marketing people were even calling some stain-repellant pants "nanotechnology." Honestly, what the fuck is that?

You should read up on that stuff. Stain-repellant pants are nanotechnology because they are woven with nano-fibers. They are so fine and closely knit that they can keep out most fluids and prevent stains.

I'm calling this nanotechnology because a *nano technician/engineer* was behind it. He and another man (mentioned in article) helped shrink down a palm-sized device to this petite size. Now. You have a computer. Which has all the stuff needed to function. This is essentially a computer in itself. It's got all the processors, battery storage areas, hardware to emit the pulses/vibes, ALL in there. This is quite different from making a Microchip. This thing has its *own* microchips and it's this small. That is my point. You're talking about a computer *chip* being microtechnology. This thing is its own computer and has all the bells and whistles to operate on its own at such a small scale, while ours are still big boxes that sit on desks or a bulk of a laptop's size. You may say "yeah well computers do more." I'll fall back on what I mentioned previously -- this thing has to do a physical task daily for quite a lengthy period of time over a cycle of months without being changed out. Plus, there's also the issue of heating. If this thing generates heat in usage of the battery, then it'll have to be insulated with a special sort of shell casing.

Sorry to step on your toes but the suffix isn't wasted here. I suggest you try not to get so huffy about it.

FELIPE NO

I really like that growing taller part, heh. Growing teeth would have been unhearfd of until now though. My dad was pretty amazed when I showed him this.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by packrat

How small must something be for it to be considered "nano?" If you are referring to circuitry, then shouldn't we be calling modern computers nanotechnology? If not that, then is it dependent upon the scale of the devices itself?

Umm...modern computers quite certainly do involve plenty of nanotechnology. =\

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I would never be able to do do this for fear of one day waking up with a robot in my mouth. But srsly, internet, this kind of thing scares me. Even if it were proven safe, I would not get it done. I just have no faith in science.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Have no faith in it doing what? Science is all around you. It'd be like saying you don't believe in God while Jesus is curing you of leprosy.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by fallen

I just have no faith in science.

I can't believed you just typed that in on a computer and posted it on a revolutionary communications tool. Yeah, science... never accomplished anything worthwile. :eyebrow:

Originally Posted by rendr

So a person is missing a tooth or two. So what if a person has a slightly crooked smile. We can live without those things.

Missing a tooth or two... sure you can survive with a few missing teeth. But having a healthy pearly white grill has many advantages. For one, having good teeth can greatly help a persons self image. Also, having straight teeth makes it easier to take care of them.

It sounds like this technology will find many homes in different fields, but don't discount dentistry (even strictly cosmetic) as a trivial application.

Yeah, I'd like to make myself about 2 inches taller so I can hit that nice round number of 6ft.

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Originally Posted by MetheGelfling

I can't believed you just typed that in on a computer and posted it on a revolutionary communications tool. Yeah, science... never accomplished anything worthwile. :eyebrow:

ha -_-

I have no faith in -medical- science when it comes to fixing my admittedly quite sexy body using strange techniques such as this. I shouldn't have been so vague. This newfangled stuff is just so untested - I would be too worried about something going wrong. This is also why I don't own a cellphone. Wireless stuff (internet and Wavebirds included) still worries me. I live in a cave because I believe electricity causes cancer. That last one was a jab at myself before the rest of you jump at the opportunity.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Hahah neat, I'm sending this over to my friend who lost a tooth in a hard fall (ouch)

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by RacinReaver

Umm...modern computers quite certainly do involve plenty of nanotechnology. =\

Well, my point is that people aren't going around calling computers(or the individual chips) products of nanotechnology, unless they incorporate devices or techniques particularly unique to the scale, such as MEMS.(at least in my experience)

I still think the label is a bit misleading in respect to the nature and operation of the device in question. According to the article, they could regrow teeth using the other, larger devices, just as well as this new, smaller device. The only difference is the convenience, not the method itself.

But I won't belabour the point any more. The label is still rather ambiguous, and so there is bound to be disagreements here and there, so I suppose, in a way, Gechmir's use is acceptable, albeit still a bit misleading.

FELIPE NO

I don't see it as misleading at all. You just have a sort of knee-jerk hatred of folks using the prefix. But, whatever. I've driven my points home already.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by packrat

Well, my point is that people aren't going around calling computers(or the individual chips) products of nanotechnology, unless they incorporate devices or techniques particularly unique to the scale, such as MEMS.(at least in my experience)

That would actually be NEMS if you want it to be nanotechnology. >.>

Jam it back in, in the dark.