Human Mouth

Human mouth is the most sensitive biological indicator of the health status. Right from birth, mouth plays an important role, Besides communication with the external world, the vociferous cry of a child announcing its birth is through the mouth, The demand for food, nutrition and attention is expressed through the medium of the mouth, Sucking of the mothers milk is through the mouth, And psychological pleasures of sucking, be it thumb, nipple or soothers, are also through the mouth. Expressions of joy, sorrow, anger or anguish are portrayed through the mouth. With the passage of time, mastication and speech become the essential functions of this all important cavity - the mouth.

Unfortunately, the human race has taken this cavity for granted and has subjected it to a variety of insults and abuses. Smoking, tobacco, betel nut and pan, alcohol, condiments - all cast their affect on this highly sensitive cavity. The Tobacco Intervention Initiative and Spot Centers are preventive mechanisms aimed at improving oral health. Nutritional deficiencies, hormonal disturbances, blood disorders, allergies and emotional anxities and tensions of modern living, all leave their imprint on oral cavity. The delicate tissues of the oral cavity react and react violently, to these different insults leading to range of diseases afflicting the mouth

Source Oral Health, Mumbai February 2014 Issue

Calcium Orthophosphate-Based Bioceramics (Materials 2013 (6) by Sergey V. Dorozhkin,pp.3840-3942; doi:10.3390/ma6093840,ISSN 1996-1944)

Abstract: (pg 3840)

"Calcium orthophosphate scaffolds are designed to induce bone formation and vascularization. These scaffolds are often porous and harbor different biomolecules and/or cells. Therefore, current biomedical applications of calcium orthophosphate bioceramics include bone augmentations, artificial bone grafts, maxillofacial reconstruction, spinal fusion, periodontal disease repairs and bone fillers after tumor surgery. Perspective future applications comprise drug delivery and tissue engineering purposes because calcium orthophosphates appear to be promising carriers of growth factors, bioactive peptides and various types of cells."

Introduction: (pg 3841)

"One should note that, in 2010, only in the USA the sales of bone graft substitutes were valued at ~$1.3 billion with a forecast of ~$2.3 billion by 2017 [5]"

[Ref No 5. US Bone Grafts Market to Reach US$2.3 Billion by 2017, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Available online: http://www.prweb.com/releases/bone_grafts/standard_ bone_allografts/prweb8953883.htm (accessed on 3 September, 2013).]

Biological Properties and in Vivo Behavior: (pg 3871)

"It is important to stress, that a distinction between the bioactive and bioresorbable bioceramics might be associated with structural factors only. Namely, bioceramics made from non-porous, dense and highly crystalline HA behaves as a bioinert (but a bioactive) material and is retained in an organism for at least 5–7 years without noticeable changes (Figure 2 bottom), while a highly porous bioceramics of the same composition can be resorbed approximately within a year. Furthermore, submicron-sized HA powders are biodegraded even faster than the highly porous HA scaffolds."

[Ref141. Okuda, T.; Ioku, K.; Yonezawa, I.; Minagi, H.; Gonda, Y.; Kawachi, G.; Kamitakahara, M.; Shibata, Y.; Murayama, H.; Kurosawa, H.; et al. The slow resorption with replacement by bone of a hydrothermally synthesized pure calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite. Biomaterials 2008, 29, 2719–2728.]

Conclusions and Outlook: (pg 3888)

"In spite of the great progress, there is still a great potential for major advances to be made in the field of calcium orthophosphate bioceramics [910]. This includes requirements for:
1. Improvement of the mechanical performance of existing types of bioceramics.
2. Enhanced bioactivity in terms of gene activation.
3. Improvement in the performance of biomedical coatings in terms of their mechanical stability and ability to deliver biological agents.
4. Development of smart biomaterials capable of combining sensing with bioactivity.
5. Development of improved biomimetic composites."

[Ref No 910. Vallet-Regí, M. Evolution of bioceramics within the field of biomaterials. Comptes Rendus Chimie 2010, 13, 174–185]

"Furthermore, in future, it should be feasible to design a new generation of gene-activating calcium orthophosphate based scaffolds tailored for specific patients and disease states. Perhaps, sometime bioactive stimuli will be used to activate genes in a preventative treatment to maintain the health of aging tissues. Currently this concept seems impossible. However, we need to remember that only ~40 years ago the concept of a material that would not be rejected by living tissues also seemed impossible [654]."

 [Ref No 654.Hench, L.L. Challenges for bioceramics in the 21st century. Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull. 2005, 84, 18–21.]