The Centre is currently researching white glass-ceramic materials that can fill, cap and replace teeth. These same ceramics are being investigated for use as bone substitute materials. These biomaterials can be used to rebuild bone. The use of a bone substitute or cement in rebuilding facial bones, for example after removal of a cancer, is being studied at the Centre. The cement can also be used to stabilise cochlear implants which are difficult to secure at the surgical site.
Dental materials are the most extensively employed biomaterials for incorporation in the human body.
Their safety is a matter of growing concern and the general public have become much more informed of this in recent years with access to the Web and articles appearing regularly in the newspapers. Other staff involved with the Centre are studying surface engineering, working on cell recognition and adhesion molecules. Coating a biomaterial with something which human cells like to bind to, will increase the likelihood that an implanted heart valve, hip prosthesis or area of skin, for example, will be accepted by the body as its own and therefore not reject it. The large number of medical applications of biomaterials and tissue-engineered products is a direct result of the range of scientific disciplines which are involved in this area. Many more local and regional meetings are being planned to encourage communication in the hope that these will develop into new collaborations.