# Effect of piezoelectric charges on oral microbiome modulation

> **NIH NIH R21** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2021 · $249,818

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Secondary caries is considered the leading cause of dental restorations failure. The economic burden of
treating this dental condition is significant at a cost of over $5 billion each year in USA. Improving the seal of
dental materials bonded to dental hard tissues is critical for the prevention of secondary caries, progression
of dental disease and tooth loss. Removing bacteria at the bonded interface will prevent the (bio)chemical
degradation of the bonded materials, and thus, increase the clinical service of restorations. A common
limitation of current antibacterial technologies includes the short durability of the effects due to leaching and
depletion of ions. Therefore, there is an immense need to develop a new generation of dental antibacterial
materials to reduce and eliminate dental diseases at bonded interfaces (e.g. secondary caries). We recently
developed a new composite with piezoelectric properties for antibacterial therapies by incorporating charged
nano-fillers into dental resins. Our innovative approach significantly improves current technologies by using
a single filler with long-lasting antibacterial effects. In this study, we propose to find the optimal amount of
piezoelectric nano-filler to enable the antibacterial effect while retaining high mechanical and physical
properties of the composite (aim 1). In addition, we will evaluate the oral microbiome-modulating effects of
piezoelectric charges to understand the specific changes on the biofilm composition and identify the targeted
species by piezoelectric charges (aim 2). We expect the development of the proposed technology to
significantly impact the dental field by reducing the failure rate of composite restorations, in turn, reducing the
costs associated with those failures, improving the health of patients, and preventing unnecessary loss of
additional tooth structure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10189941
- **Project number:** 1R21DE030564-01
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Santiago Orrego
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $249,818
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-04 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10189941

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10189941, Effect of piezoelectric charges on oral microbiome modulation (1R21DE030564-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10189941. Licensed CC0.

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