IISc scientists develop nanobots to kill bacteria deep inside teeth

The procedure involves removing the infected soft tissue inside the tooth, called the pulp, and flushing the tooth with antibiotics or chemicals to kill the bacteria that cause the infection.

IISc scientists develop nanobots to kill bacteria deep inside teeth

A team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru has developed a nano-sized robot that can help in killing bacteria deep inside the teeth and increase the success of root canal treatments. The robot works using a magnetic field. As per scientists, root canal treatments are frequently carried out to treat tooth infections in millions of patients. The procedure involves removing the infected soft tissue inside the tooth, called the pulp, and flushing the tooth with antibiotics or chemicals to kill the bacteria that cause the infection.

“The dentinal tubules are very small and bacteria reside deep in the tissue. Current techniques are not efficient enough to go all the way inside and kill the bacteria,” said Shanmukh Srinivas, Research Associate at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), and co-founder of IISc-incubated start-up, Theranautilus.

The findings of the study were published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Scientists have designed helical nanobots made of silicon dioxide coated with iron, that can be controlled using a device that generates a low-intensity magnetic field. These nanobots were then injected into extracted tooth samples and their movement was tracked using a microscope. By tweaking the frequency of the magnetic field, the researchers were able to make the nanobots move at will and penetrate deep inside the dentinal tubules.

“We have also established that we can retrieve them, we can pull them back out of the patient’s teeth,” said Srinivas. “Crucially, the team was able to manipulate the magnetic field to make the surface of the nanobots generate heat, which can kill the bacteria nearby. No other technology in the market can do this right now,” said Debayan Dasgupta, Research Associate at CeNSE, and another co-founder of Theranautilus.

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