Ozone And Dentistry
The World Ozone Conference was held in Imperial College
2001 and the topic was Medical Applications of Ozone. Dentistry is far
behind other fields of medicine in introducing ozone for therapeutic
purposes.
Studies have shown that just 10 seconds of exposure to ozone (O3) can
eliminate the number of colony-forming bacteria. The niche where
bacteria
has become established has taken a long time to develop and has become
the exclusive domain of acid-loving bacteria. Ozone destroys this
niche,
destroying the bacteria, and also breaking up their metabolites so the
whole
lesion is effectively sterilized.
Ozone also destroys the protein coat over the lesion, which effectively
'protects' the niche. Saliva contains all the bio-available minerals
the tooth needs to remineralise. It cannot, due to the acid conditions,
and
the protein coat. By removing this, the natural minerals can enter the
lesion, and effectively seal it. So, provided we set up the right
conditions, you could argue that there is no need to place a filling, and my
study showed this.
For years, we have been told to isolate cavities prior to placing a
filling. Now ozone technologies may turn this upside down, by saying
that prior to filling, you ozone first, let the patient lick the
cavity area, and then isolate, re-ozone, then place your filling. Why
do we need the contamination? For its mineral component, of course.
What
better dental sealant can you offer the patient? Whilst this research
is
not yet complete or published, this may be the way future filling
replacement is going to be directed.
Lastly, look at water line cleanliness. An average dental unit has
about 20 million bacteria, and a lot of them are a real threat to
immuno-compromised patients. One flushing with ozonated water reduces
the bacteria count to about 8,000 / ml, and after 12 hours, NOT A
SINGLE
bug can be cultivated. Research in Belfast has shown that the biofilm
is stripped out of the entire system. So now we can say it is possible
to sterilise a dental unit, not just clean it.
Ozone technologies are here to stay. Dentistry is catching up with our
medical colleagues who have used this technology for about 100 years.
We can stabilise the base first through a simple procedure, to minimise
the volume of tooth tissue that has to be removed. We could put in
place
the right environment so that the decay stops, and is completely
reversed.
With a single 40 or 60 second application of ozone, we get complete and
permanent pain relief. And there are many studies to show once tissue
has remineralised, it never decays again.
I have already used ozone to treat 1275 lesions. To date, not a single
one treated with ozone has got worse, and over 99% of those treated
have reversed.
In the control group, about 6 have shown any signs of reversal, and all
the rest have got worse.
If you want to read the research, you can down load it from
www.the-o-zone.cc as well as recent articles.
There are many studies starting to look at this technology and its
uses in other areas. Professor Lynch and his group have data for two
applications. As the other applications are research and published, so
they will be published in the dental journals.
References:
1. Baysan A., Whiley RA., Lynch E. Antimicrobial effect of a novel
ozone-generating device on micro-organisms associated with primary
root carious lesions in vitro. Caries Res. 2000;34:498-501.
2. Baysan A., Lynch E. and Grootveld M. The use of ozone for the
management of primary root carious lesions. Quintessence Publishing
Group 2001;49-67.
3. Holmes, J, Lynch E., Clinical Reversal of Primary Occlusal Fissure
Carious Lesions (POFCLs) using Ozone in General Dental Practice
4. Inaba D, Duscher H, Jongebloed W, Odelius H, Takagi 0, Arends J:
The effects of a sodium hypochlorite treatment on demineralised root
dentin. Eur J oral Sci 1995; 103: 368-374.
5. Inaba D, Ruben J, Takagi 0, Arends J:
Effects of sodium hypochlorite treatment on remineralization of human
root dentine in vitro. Caries Res 1996; 30: 214-218.
6. Effect of Ozone on Biofilms in Dental Unit Waterlines
AL SHORMAN H1*, COULTER WA2, ABU-NBA'A L1, LYNCH E1.
Restorative Dentistry, 2Microbiology, School of Dentistry
University Belfast
7. Clinical reversal of root caries using ozone
AYLIN BAYSAN, EDWARD LYNCH
Journal of Dental Research
8. Oxidative Consumption of Biomolecules by Therapeutic Levels of Ozone
MD TURNER, M GROOTVELD, CJL SILWOOD, E LYNCH
Journal of Dental Research
9. Oxidising actions of an Anti-Bacterial Ozone-Generating Device
towards Root Caries Biomolecules
E LYNCH, CJL SILWOOD, C SMITH, M GROOTVELD
Journal of Dental Research
10. Patients' Attitudes to Managing Caries with Ozone
H DOMINGO, C SMITH, R FREEMAN, E LYNCH
Journal of Dental Research
11. The Effect of Ozone Application on Fissure Caries QLF Readings
LAYLA ABU-NABA'A, HISHAM AL SHORMAN, EDWARD LYNCH
Journal of Dental Research
12. Oxidative Modification of Salivary Biomolecules with
Therapeutic Levels of Ozone
AWD CLAXSON, C SMITH, MD TURNER, CJL SILWOOD, EDWARD LYNCH, M
GROOTVELD
Journal of Dental Research
13. Ozone, An Effective Treatment For Dental Unit Water Lines
HISHAM M AL SHORMAN, LAYLA ABU-NABA'A, WILSON A COULTER, EDWARD LYNCH
Journal of Dental Research
14. Rapid Detection of Microbial-Derived Components in Dental Unit
Water Lines by NMR Analysis
C SMITH, H AL SHORMAN, M GROOTVELD, E LYNCH, BP MILLS, CJL SILWOOD
Journal of Dental Research
15. Oxidative Consumption of Salivary Biomolecules by a Mouthrinse
M. GROOTVELD*, E. LYNCH, A. CLAXSON, B. MILLS, and C.J. SILWOOD
Journal of Dental Research
16. Oxidation of Root Caries Biomolecules by an Antibacterial
Ozone-generating Device
E. LYNCH*, A. BAYSAN, C.J. SILWOOD, B. MILLS, and M. GROOTVELD
Journal of Dental Research
17. Oxidation of Human Plaque Biomolecules by an Antibacterial
Ozone-generating Device
B. MILLS*, E. LYNCH, A. BAYSAN, C.J. SILWOOD, and M. GROOTVELD
Journal of Dental Research
18. Management of Primary Root Caries Lesions Using Ozone {in vivo}
A. BAYSAN* and E. LYNCH
Journal of Dental Research
19. Therapeutic Salivary Oxidizing Activity of a Novel Antibacterial
Ozone-generating Device
C.J. SILWOOD*, E. LYNCH, A. BAYSAN, B. MILLS, and M. GROOTVELD
Journal of Dental Research