Nature Communications (Aug 2017)

Diagnosing peri-implant disease using the tongue as a 24/7 detector

  • J. Ritzer,
  • T. Lühmann,
  • C. Rode,
  • M. Pein-Hackelbusch,
  • I. Immohr,
  • U. Schedler,
  • T. Thiele,
  • S. Stübinger,
  • B. v. Rechenberg,
  • J. Waser-Althaus,
  • F. Schlottig,
  • M. Merli,
  • H. Dawe,
  • M. Karpíšek,
  • R. Wyrwa,
  • M. Schnabelrauch,
  • L. Meinel

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00340-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

Read online

Early detection of gum inflammation caused by dental implants helps prevent tissue damage. Here, the authors present a peptide sensor that generates a bitter taste when cleaved by proteases present in peri-implant disease, embed it in a chewing gum, and compare the probe to existing sensors using patient saliva.