“Nanotechnology” - The new era of prosthodontics

Cloude Levi Strauss and Winfred Phillips said that, “You have to be able to fabricate things, you have to be able to analyze things, and you have to be able to handle things smaller than ever imagined in ways not done before”. Many researchers believed that in future, scientific devices that are dwarfed by dust mites may one day be capable of grand biomedical miracles. The word ‘Nano’ is derived from the Greek word for “dwarf”. Today, the revolutionary development of nanotechnology has become the most highly energized discipline in science and technology. Nanotechnology is extremely diverse and multidisciplinary field, ranging from novel extensions of conventional physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self assembly to developing new materials and machines with nanoscale dimensions. The growing interest in the future of dental application of nanotechnology leads to emergence of “Nanodentistry” which involves the maintenance of oral health by the use of nanomaterials, biotechnology and dental nanorobotics. The recent developments, particularly of nanoparticles and nanotubes, the materials developed from such as the hollow nanospheres, core shell structures, nanocomposites, nanoporous materials, and nanomembranes will play a growing role in materials development for the dental fraternity. This paper is an attempt to give an over view about the nanomaterials and nanotechnology and its applications in the field of Prosthodontics.