Nano technology in prosthodontics- an overview

Nanotechnology is extremely diverse and multidisciplinary field, ranging from novel extensions of conventional physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly to developing new materials and machines with nanoscale dimensions. Nanotechnology is based on the perception of generating functional structures by monitoring atoms and molecules on a one-by-one basis. It deals with all physical, chemical, and biological properties of structures with their components at nanoscale magnitudes. It has been shown that the performances of many biomaterials used in prosthodontics have been significantly enhanced after their scales were reduced by nanotechnology, from micron-size into nanosize. Properties such as modulus elasticity, surface hardness, polymerization shrinkage and filler loading, were significantly increased after the addition of the nanomaterial.