Welcome to the Glass Age

55 optical glasses allow for key-hole surgery. Glass-ceramics and glass ionomer cements are used to repair our teeth after caries damage. Bioactive glasses, which are designed to dissolve and biodegrade in the human body, have improved the quality of life for millions of patients, regenerating bone and skin faster and in some cases healing tissue that would not heal by any other means. The number of healthcare applications of glass will likely continue to increase in the future. References [1] B uck , D. W. (2020): “Innovative Bioactive Glass Fiber Technology Accelerates Wound Healing and Minimizes Costs: A Case Series”, Advances in Skin &Wound Care , 33 (8). [2] H ench , L. L. et al. (1971): “Bonding mechanisms at the interface of ceramic prosthetic materials”, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research , 2 (1): 117-141. [3] X ynos , I. D. et al. (2001): “Gene-expression profiling of human osteoblasts following treatment with the ionic products of Bioglass (R) 45S5 dissolution”, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research , 55 (2):151-157. [4] L indfors , N. et al. (2017): “Antibacterial Bioactive Glass, S53P4, for Chronic Bone Infections - A Multinational Study” ( 81-92), in L. Drago (editor), Modern Approach to Biofilm-Related Orthopaedic Implant Infections: Advances in Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Public Health. Volume 5 , Springer. [5] C hen , Q. Z. Z.; T hompson , I. D. & B occaccini , A. R. (2006): “45S5 Bioglass-derived glass-ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering”, Biomaterials , 27 (11): 2414-25. [6] N ommeots -N omm , A. et al. (2017): “Highly degradable porous melt-derived bioactive glass foam scaffolds for bone regeneration”, Acta Biomaterialia , 57: 449-461. [7] J ones , J. R.; E hrenfried , L. M. & H ench , L.L. (2006): “Optimising bioactive glass scaffolds for bone tissue engineering”, Biomaterials , 27: 964-973. [8] L i , R.; C lark , A. E. & H ench , L. L. (1991): “An investigation of bioactive glass powders by sol-gel processing”, Journal of Applied Biomaterials , 2 (4): 231-239. [9] F u , Q.; S aiz , E. & T omsia , A. P. (2011): “Bioinspired strong and highly porous glass scaffolds”, Advanced Functional Materials , 21 (6): 1058-63. [10] S hi , X. et al. (2020): “Bioactive glass scaffold architectures regulate patterning of bone regeneration in vivo”, Applied Materials Today , 20: 100770. [11] E arl , J. S. et al. (2011): “Physical and chemical characterization of dentin surface, following treatment with NovaMin® technology”, The Journal of Clinical Dentistry , 22: 2-67. [12] H öland , W. et al. (2006): “Clinical applications of glass-ceramics in dentistry”, Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine , 17 (11): 1037-42. [13] R itzberger , C. et al. (2010): “Properties and Clinical Application of Three Types of Dental Glass- Ceramics and Ceramics for CAD-CAM Technologies”, Materials , 3 (6): 3700-13.