Smart materials in dentistry-future prospects

INTRODUCTIONTraditionally, materials designed for long term use in the body or more specifically in the mouth are thought to survive longer if they are ‘passive’ and have no interaction with their environment. Materials such as amalgams, composites and cements are often judged on their ability to survive without interacting with the oral environment. Perhaps the first inclination that an ‘active’ rather than ‘passive’ material could be attractive was the realisation of the benefit of fluoride release from materials.THE NATURE OF SMART MATERIALSBy definition and general agreement, smart materials are materials that have properties which may be altered in a controlled fashion by stimuli, such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, electric or magnetic fields. A key feature of smart behaviour includes an ability to return to the original state after 1the stimulus has been removed