Avoiding the Dentist, a Thing of the Past?

NRC researchers developing technology for improved dental care

October 10, 2006, Winnipeg, MB — A team of National Research Council (NRC) scientists and their collaborators are developing cost-effective tools that will help dentists diagnose and manage patients' dental health. The studies will support clinical implementation of the technology for early detection, preventing and reversing early dental decay, thus avoiding drilling and filling!

The NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics (NRC-IBD) researchers, working in collaboration with dental clinicians at the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg) and Dalhousie University (Halifax), believe the fusion of various techniques, such as Raman spectroscopy and optical coherence tomography, will help overcome the limitations and shortcomings often encountered when using only a single technique like x-rays.

The significance of this collaborative research initiative has been recognized by the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH-NIDCR), which has awarded the NRC researchers and their clinical collaborators a US$1 million grant to tackle the problem of early assessment of dental caries. The grant will fund the project over four years. The project proposes to develop intra-oral probes based on the combined technology and to validate the methods for clinical use. The NRC technology is in line with a new dental care focus on prevention and tooth preservation rather than restoration.

"The results of this research could have a major impact on dental practice and we are proud to be part of the innovative team. It is very satisfying to see Canadians taking the lead in this important field," says Dr. Ian Smith, Director General of NRC in Manitoba.

"The partnership between NRC-IBD and the University of Manitoba was initiated almost five years ago and has progressively grown stronger. Our colleagues at the NRC-IBD were very innovative in recognizing early, the opportunity to apply their expertise to a widespread age old oral health problem that is now a major leading area of dental research," says Dr. Cecilia Dong, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Manitoba.

The research team is a consortium led by the NRC-IBD Spectroscopy Group (L.-P. Choo-Smith as principal investigator, M. Hewko, M. Sowa, A. Ko, J. Werner), involving clinical collaborators from the University of Manitoba (C. Dong, W. Wiltshire, C. Dawes) and from Dalhousie University (B. Cleghorn). Micro-optics engineers from Quebec's National Optics Institute (P. Topart) are also involved.

Recognized globally for research and innovation, Canada's National Research Council (NRC) is a leader in the development of an innovative, knowledge-based economy for Canada through science and technology. The NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics, located in Winnipeg, develops and commercializes innovative medical devices for the non-invasive diagnosis of diseases, with research focused in optical and magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy, device prototyping, bioinformatics, and medical software.

For more information, please visit the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca, or contact:

Sarah Mangione
Communications Advisor
National Research Council of Canada
Tel.: (613) 990-6091
E-mail: media@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Valerie McPherson
Communications Officer
NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics
Tel.: (204) 984-4890
Valerie.McPherson@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca