Using nanorobots in dental procedures

Spiral silica robots measuring 300 nanometres will travel through dentinal tubules, targeting bacteria

A significant percentage of root canal treatments fail, because the procedure leaves out some bacteria that are located deep within the dentinal tubules. A group of scientists including those from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has found a way to tackle this using nanosized robots that will travel through the tubules and target the bacteria. They have also founded a company, Theranautilus, which will eventually market this technology. Measuring no more than 300 nanometres, these spiral silica nanobots with a bit of iron embedded in them are suspended in water or water-like biocompatible medium. “There are about a billion nanorobots in 0.5 ml water. This concentration is almost a trillion times lower than the amount of silica found in a pint of beer and is effectively harmless for the human body,” explains Debayan Dasgupta, a research associate at IISc and co-founder of the company. “We inject (or rather, place them gently) in the central canal of the tooth. Then a rotating magnetic field is applied using a triaxial Helmholtz coil. The magnetic material embedded in the nanorobot has a magnetic moment that follows the applied magnetic field. This causes the nanorobot to move - like screws move into a wall.”