51视频

03/01/2017
By Katharine Webster

If the human mouth is a sewer, then 51视频 chemistry Prof. Yuyu Sun is the chief sanitary engineer of dental appliances.

He鈥檚 already got patents on several anti-microbial additives for plastics, including one that prevents bacterial buildup inside dental tubing.

His latest project: designing dentures that can be infused with anti-fungal medications to treat denture-related stomatitis 鈥� inflamed, painful gums caused by a common yeast that builds up between the hard dentures and soft tissue. If left untreated, it can lead to open sores, systemic infection and even death.

Right now, some companies make dentures from material that incorporates an anti-fungal drug that is slowly released into the mouth. But after a few weeks, the drug is used up, and no more can be added. And drugs should only be given when they鈥檙e needed for an active infection, to prevent drug-resistant strains of yeast from developing, Sun says.

鈥淣ot everyone has a fungal infection, and if they have it, they don鈥檛 have it all the time,鈥� he says.

So Sun took a different approach. He鈥檚 developed and patented a type of plastic that can absorb several different anti-fungal drugs or a combination of drugs. The drugs can be added if and when they鈥檙e needed, and once the stomatitis clears up, the dentures can be put in a quenching solution that neutralizes the drugs. The dentures also can be 鈥渞echarged鈥� with drugs if the infection recurs.

鈥淲e wanted a click-on, click-off feature,鈥� he says. 鈥淥ur strategy is to develop dentures without a drug. But if necessary, the dental appliance can be put into an anti-fungal solution, and it will bond with the medication and release it over time.鈥�

His first patients will be veterans; because of combat conditions and injuries, as well as post-combat disabilities and higher rates of homelessness, they are more likely to wear dentures than civilians.聽

鈥淎 higher rate of disability can lead to poorer oral hygiene, which can lead to greater tooth loss and the need for dentures, particularly as they age,鈥� Sun says.

Sun is working with a professor and geriatric dentist at the South Texas VA Health Care System who treats a large number of veterans with denture-related stomatitis. Together, they have received $1.5 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs to pursue their research.

The next step? Manufacturing dentures using the patented plastic on the part that fits over the gums, and then trying them with patients. Sun hopes to be ready for clinical trials within five years and to win U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval soon afterward.

The project grew out of his earlier collaboration with , an associate professor in the School of Dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The pair had worked on dental tubing that absorbs an anti-microbial solution 鈥� and can be flushed and recharged periodically with more of the solution. The tubing resists the buildup of biofilm, a coating of microbes like the slimy film on your dog鈥檚 refilled, but unwashed, water bowl.

鈥淪he invited me to give a presentation there,鈥� he says. 鈥淎fterward, a lot of dentists approached me and asked if I could apply it to other devices.鈥�

When he started to study dentures, he realized he needed to collaborate with someone with expertise in fungal infections of the mouth, and Porteous recommended Yeh.

Sun is also working on an anti-microbial filling material for cavities 鈥� and another dental project he鈥檚 not ready to discuss. He鈥檚 helped develop anti-microbial fabric and paint, collaborating with faculty at 51视频 and elsewhere. It鈥檚 all part of his battle against preventable infections, and his weapons include a background in polymer chemistry and biomedical engineering.

鈥淲e鈥檙e developing new biomaterials and strategies to counter biofilms and microbes,鈥� he says.

Since the human mouth is a sewer, it鈥檚 a great place to start.