Laura Beth Fulton conducted much of her research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry.
Enamel, the outer, protective layer of teeth, is the hardest substance in the human body. But the unique mineral structure that makes enamel so strong also makes it vulnerable to breakage and decay.
Soft drinks, acidic fruit drinks, certain medications, and acid reflux are just a few of the causes of enamel erosion that can expose a tooth’s main tissue, dentin, and cause cavities. Unfortunately, enamel contains no living cells, so the body does not naturally restore it. And so far, scientists haven’t found a safe, cost-effective way to rebuild enamel that has cracked, chipped, or eroded.
But Laura Beth Fulton, a high-school senior from Egg Harbor Township, N.J., has— literally—come up with a solution to fix problems associated with enamel damage and loss. She developed the solution while doing research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine over the past year and a half. It’s an adhering agent that combines with hydroxyapatite, enamel’s composition, to re-create the dentin-enamel junction and save teeth from permanent damage.
Laura’s dental-bioengineering work earned her a regional-finalist spot in the Siemens Competition this year. And earlier this month, she was announced as a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search, the prestigious pre-college science competition for high-school seniors.
Project title: “Development of a Novel, Safe Method for In Vitro Re-Creation of the Tooth Enamel Layer”
Laura was a semifinalist in the Intel Science Talent Search this year.
Interest piqued by lost teeth:“My interest in dentistry began when I lost my first two baby teeth on the first day of kindergarten,” Laura said. “I became curious about how many teeth I had in my mouth and how many adult teeth I would acquire.” Conversations with her dentist also helped her become fascinated with oral hygiene’s affects on overall health—so fascinated that in first grade, when she played a munchkin in a high-school production of “The Wizard of Oz,” she surprised her family and friends when she announced in the show program: “I would like to do community theater, and in my spare time, be a pediatric dentist and orthodontist.”
In recent years, friends of Laura’s have experienced enamel loss due to acid reflux and the use of antibiotics, which has sharpened her interest in enamel restoration. “I discovered that the loss of natural tooth enamel affects millions of people worldwide, and that there are currently no methods that have yielded an enamel solution that can adhere to the dentin layer,” she said.
In early 2012, she started e-mailing professors with her idea of developing such a solution, and eventually Dr. Francis Mante, associate professor and director of biomaterials, invited her to perform and test her research at The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.
Methods and materials she used to carry out her project: Laura’s initial research revealed that when enamel becomes damaged, the dentin-enamel junction cannot be easily reformed and cracks are able to directly penetrate tooth dentin. Her project focused on finding a biologically compatible bonding agent that would combine with enamel’s hydroxyapatite to form a novel solution that would re-create the dentin-enamel junction and achieve adherence in vitro.
“I devoted weeks in the lab testing bonding agents that continually failed to adhere in application,” she said. This, she says, was the hardest part of her research. But those failed attempts only fueled her desire and creativity, and eventually she came up with one that worked.
To determine efficacy of her Enamel Bond solution (due to a pending patent, she will not comment in detail about Enamel Bond’s chemical makeup), Laura became proficient with instruments of scientific experimentation, using test equipment in the Penn Dental and Penn Engineering labs. First she became certified in x-ray diffraction, which allowed her to use diffraction equipment to determine the composition of Enamel Bond. She conducted specific dental tests to determine the Enamel Bond’s hardness, durability, and subjectivity to leakage. With supervision, she also used a scanning-electron microscope to compare the surface of Enamel Bond to that of natural enamel.
After achieving a compound of desirable hardness and durability, she then had to test the compound’s ability to bond to real teeth. To do this, she procured sterilized teeth from an oral surgeon. Under the guidance of her mentors, she was able to measure the efficacy of her compound.
And the results were undeniably favorable. The hardness of her compound rivaled that of natural enamel—and it exhibited excellent durability. Most importantly, tests revealed bond structures in the Enamel Bond mirrored those of natural enamel.
A special bond: Used as a dental filling, Laura said, Enamel Bond could replace the less-durable, amalgam fillings, which have been shown to leach lead and mercury into patients’ bodies; and resin-based fillings, which contain an endocrine disruptor, Bisphenol A (BPA). Now, in between preparing for science fairs and finishing her senior year of high school, Laura is working on obtaining a patent for the Enamel Bond solution. She hopes to sell the patent to a dental company, which could then begin clinical trials and eventually market the solution.
So, does she still plan to be a community-theater actress who does dental work on the side? Laura still performs on stage with a professional dance company, and plays the flute and piccolo in several bands. But research has become her primary passion. “Ten years from now, I envision myself in a laboratory pursuing dental or engineering research,” Laura said.
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