Month: September 2022

DISTRACTION. Geoffrey Chaucer, in 'Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale': "A bitore bombleth in the myre" referencing the Gollum-like (recovering) British marsh bird, the Bittern, a feature of Mediaeval banquets." https://lnkd.in/edGxXnv View in LinkedIn

DISTRACTION. The Bittern's night-time mating calls today are described as "powerful waves of sound, reminiscent of blowing into an empty bottle, audible over 5 km, preceded by muffled intakes of breath." https://lnkd.in/edGxXnv View in LinkedIn

BITTERN. Image from https://lnkd.in/ea-fEFr. View in LinkedIn

TEETH resemble the structure of shell and bone crystalline structures, of mineral combined with protein fibers, accounting for their remarkable strength. The chemistry behind these composites is deeply complex, as outlined in this thorough review. A primer for the piezoelectric effect found in teeth. https://lnkd.in/eerDdxj View in LinkedIn

DENTAL PIEZO. Does biting generate a piezoelectric current in the tooth root? Do braces cause piezoelectric currents? https://lnkd.in/eFXVUKn View in LinkedIn

"BIOELECTRIC responses (piezoelectricity and streaming potentials) propagated by bone bending incident to orthodontic force application might function as pivotal cellular first messengers." https://lnkd.in/eFXVUKn View in LinkedIn

MECHANICALLY STRESSED connective tissue generates electric potentials, in bone and teeth, attributed to the "electrokinetic" or "streaming effect". It is thought that these electrical signals couple to biochemical pathways. https://lnkd.in/evD9AeS View in LinkedIn

WHAT FUNCTION does tooth piezoelectricity serve? The literature is almost completely silent on endogenous clinical effects of these small currents. https://lnkd.in/eqJueMN View in LinkedIn

"BONE is piezoelectric and therefore capable of transforming mechanical forces into an electrical signal. Dental enamel is not piezoelectric. Dentine is piezoelectric, but the strength of the effect in comparison to bone has not been measured." https://lnkd.in/eqJueMN View in LinkedIn

PIEZOELECTRIC TEETH. "The surface layer of tooth enamel is comprised primarily of hydroxyapatite crystals and a small fraction (~3-5%) of organic fibers concentrated mostly in the vicinity of the dentin-enamel junction." https://lnkd.in/evjaNwH View in LinkedIn