Artificial Salivary Gland Dental Implant

Xerostomiaor dry mouthaffects approximatelyof the U Spopulationsomemillion people by causing oral discomfort and pain due to chronically dry mucosaThis condition leads to oral disease such as caries and candidiasisand has no cure or adequate treatmentMany remedial approaches have been tried with only limited successincluding the provision of fluid to the mouth via frequent sippingvarious mouthwashessprays and lozengeselectric stimulation of native salivary glandsineffective for Sj gren s patientsand potential cellular regeneration strategies to augment or replace salivary glandsOral Fluid DynamicsLLCOFDproposes to treat Xerostomia with a radically new approachA dental implant to harvest and filter fluid from the jaw bone and to discharge the filtered fluid into the mouth as substitute salivaOFD s pilot animal studies have demonstrated that dental implants can harvest fluid within mandibular bone over a two year periodthat the fluid is abundantly available and constantly replenishedand that it could provide a continual supply of oral fluid for the relief of XerostomiaDental implants are currently the standard of care to replace missing teeth and have shown to be successful for patients of all ages with few limitations regarding systemic healthMany Xerostomic patients are middle and older age and are often missing teethaffording the opportunity to address both problems with this specially designed implantThe overall goal of this project is to develop a dental implant device that serves as a salivary gland replacement that will change the standard of care for patients with Xerostomia Relevance to Public HealthDry mouthxerostomiadue to abnormally low salivation affectsmillion people in the United Statesresulting directly from immunological compromise of salivary glandsSj gren s Syndromeas well as from side effects of medications and postradiation treatment of head neck cancerDry mouth causes discomfortpaintooth decayand fungal infectionOral Fluid DynamicsLLC is developing a standard dental implant device that moves continuously available fluid residing inside jaw bones through a membrane filter and into the mouth as a saliva substitute