Novel Bionanocomposite for orthopedic and dental applications

Abstract

Bone and tooth are composed of nanoscale hard inorganic building blocks in soft organic matrix. For years, metals have dominated orthopedic and dental implant markets due to their sufficient mechanical properties, although metal implants often have to be removed in secondary surgery and are sometimes the cause of adverse medical reactions. The University of Missouri and Nanova are currently developing revolutionary biomimetic non-metal nanocomposites that will threaten the orthopedic market dominated by metal. These nanocomposites also have the potential to be the strongest available dental composite for dental restoration procedures. With a stronger, more reliable product that causes fewer complications, these nanocomposites should quickly penetrate the orthopedic implant and dental markets. Potential Areas of Applications: Orthopedic implant, Dental restorations. Patent Status: Patent Pending. Inventor(s): Hao Li, Qingsong Yu, Liang Chen, Meng Chen. This presentation was an elevator pitch at the Missouri Technology Expo 2011.