Graphene: The game changer in dentistry

Abstract

Oral cavity is an extremely demanding setting. Most dental materials are in intimate contact with oral tissue for a long time; they must be biocompatible for them to have a harmonious interaction with the host while performing the desired functions. Therefore, there is always a huge interest and strong trend in continuous development of dental materials with improvised properties. Over the past few decades, with the discovery of fullerene in 1985 and carbon nanotubes in 1991, carbon based nanomaterials have been merited on the scientific stage. Graphene is one such material. It is the thinnest and strongest material in existence. Graphene, a single-layer carbon sheet with a hexagonal packed lattice structure, has shown many unique properties, it has shown outstanding potential in many research fields including prosthodontics and allied dental specialities. This review includes studies of Graphene published in the English language. The EMBASE and MEDLINE (National Library of Medicine) databases were searched through PubMed. The keywords consisting of “graphene oxide” , “graphene in prosthodontics” and “graphene in dentistry” were used.