As we wrap up the year, our office wishes you and your family a wonderful holiday season! It has been such a wonderful year and we look forward to see you in 2019!
All the best,
Dr. Lynda Tran

Monitoring in real time what happens in and around our bodies can be invaluable in the context of health care or clinical studies, but not so easy to do. That could soon change thanks to new, miniaturized sensors developed by researchers at the Tufts University School of Engineering that, when mounted directly on a tooth and communicating wirelessly with a mobile device, can transmit information on glucose, salt and alcohol intake. In research to be published soon in the journal Advanced Materials, researchers note that future adaptations of these sensors could enable the detection and recording of a wide range of nutrients, chemicals and physiological states.



“Potential real-world application of this technology is to assist dental pulp stem cell researchers and companies that store dental stem cells with improving their yields,” Mah said. “At this time, we plan to improve upon the current design and conduct testing with a variety of tooth shapes, but we are open to collaborations with other researchers and industry.”

The link between oral health and a healthy heart is stronger than you might have realised, and this World Heart Day. People with poor oral health have an increased number of bad bacteria, which can travel through your bloodstream to your stomach and heart, and create serious health problems.

“The Tooth Fairy” studyScientists have searched for the cause of autism for decades. They have found trends — such as children with older siblings with autism are at significantly higher risk — but have yet to discover its trigger.Researchers at the University of Washington are part of a national study looking at the baby teeth of the siblings of children who have autism. The Fishers have been enlisted to take part.Since the teeth are collected from young children, the research quickly earned a nickname, “The Tooth Fairy” study.Scientists will analyze the teeth looking for signs of exposure to toxins, such as pesticides, flame retardants, chemicals that soften plastics, and heavy metals such as lead, which can affect the development of genes.A scientific instrument is used to determine when a child was exposed to a contaminant.

Artificial tooth enamel could one day lead to the development of materials that could be a better alternative to the metals currently used to build airplane fuselages and automobile chassis. The fake enamel is not only lighter, the researchers say it’s able to withstand the constant vibrations, pressures, plus expansions and compressions that metals experience during flights, which overtime lead to microscopic cracks and eventual structure failure—the last thing you want at 30,000 feet.

