Dental Carrier Device Makes Advancements In Oral Health

Patients may not know it, but they and their dentists are benefiting from a dental carrier device invented by Ron Lemon D.M.D., and Raymond Luebke, D.D.S., at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

A new generation of filling material called mineral trioxide aggregate or MTA, was developed to be more biocompatible for dental patients.

There was, however, no efficient way to manipulate, deliver, and place this new material, which required very different handling from the previous generation of dental material. The slurry MTA substance was clogging traditional tools, maddening dentists and failing to create proper seals in patients’ mouths. Poor seals can lead to bacterial leakage, recurrent decay, and tooth hypersensitivity — all bad news for the patient.

Dr. Lemon and Dr. Luebke invented and funded the development of the initial prototype devices that could handle this revolutionary new dental material. With the carrier technology reduced to practice, it was greeted with great acclaim in the dental world and was quickly commercialized. An exclusive license was granted to DENTSPLY International in 2001.

Dentists now have access to technology that allows maximum use of the new generation of filling material and patients can be more confident that their current dental procedures will not be the cause of even more dental work.

 


This story was originally published in 2007.

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