Park Hyung-seok, the president of Osslo, is currently gaining the attention of dentists all over the world. He is winning fame thanks to his groundbreaking Pd-Ag-In-based alloy stabilization technology, which makes use of unique materials, including the platinoid palladium alloy. As part an investigation, the Korea IT Times takes a closer look at the process and characteristics of this powerful alloy.
In fact, this alloy has a wide range of exceptionally useful properties that make it a great asset for dentists everywhere. It does not corrode, and does not undergo color change during the processing stage. It is also a very durable material, making it suitable for use in dentistry, where dental professionals often seek out materials that can withstand the high pressure levels exerted by the human jaw while a person is chewing food. The material’s most notable drawback, however, is its high price.
The alloy’s defenders point to the fact that gold prices have risen considerably in recent years, and show no signs of going down at any point in the near future. They also point out the fact that there are relatively few materials that actually are suitable for use in dental work. Alloys made using nickel could present potential health risks to patients, while lower-priced non-precious metals often run the risk of corrosion.
The need to find a dental alloy as safe (but less prohibitively expensive) as gold alloys, but less potentially harmful than nickel alloys, has long since been a hot topic in dental circles.
Alloy materials used in the sensitive human oral cavity must satisfy a range of complex physical and chemical properties in order to withstand the unique conditions that exist in the human mouth. Heat and pressure resistance qualities are vital, though a certain amount of malleability is also essential. One metal suited for such physical and chemical conditions is gold, a precious metal which is thought to have been used by dentists since some 2,000 years ago. Gold’s resistance to corrosion and its extensibleness allows it to effectively relieve the occlusion pressure (the pressure caused by collisions between lower and upper teeth) that is exerted while consuming food.
Pure gold, say dentists, is not entirely suitable for this process, though. To make up for the weakness of the metal’s high extensibleness, dental professionals often combine gold with other metals, such as silver and copper, to make a variety of alloys.
Combining Safety with Longevity
During World War II, Japanese medicine experts developed nickel alloys as a dental material in order to reduce the amount of gold that was being used in dental treatment, hoping to divert funds to the war effort.
Nickel is still used widely for this purpose, and offers the benefit of lower corrosion rates than other similar non-precious metals. Many dentists warn against the dangers of the use of this metal, however, saying that those who use it cannot guarantee safety for their patients. Detractors say that it can have a negative effect on oral health, as it tends to irritate gum cells and can cause allergic reactions for some patients. Accordingly, the governments of many leading nations ban the use of the metal in dentistry.
However, discounting nickel alloys altogether simply drives dentists and patients alike back to gold alloys, increasing the already-heavy financial burden on patients. People like Park, however, believe that they have uncovered a safer – and cheaper – solution in platinoid palladium alloys. In fact, proponents of the material have for years been singing its praises, claiming that it is safe for use in the oral cavity, while having the distinct benefit of a lower price than gold.
Despite the material’s many apparent benefits, development efforts to perfect the preparation of platinoid palladium alloy for dental use have experienced a 7-year history of failure. Professionals have not succeeded to overcome the various problems posed by intensity, color change, thermal expansion and casing. Until now.
In fact, the development of platinoid alloys was actually initiated among metal engineers in Nazi Germany. While the Nazis’ allies, the Japanese, diverted their attention to researching nickel alloys for dental use, the Nazis looked towards platinoid palladium solutions for the same purposes.
Nazi metal engineers and medical teams attempted a series of unsuccessful experiments using the alloy, but when the United States led the Allied invasion of Germany, American scientists inherited this research, and began their own research on platinoid palladium alloy in dentistry. By the 1970’s, they were able to get the metal inside a tooth with relative stability. However, patients complained of side effects, including rusty-root phenomenon, low intensity and other problems.
By the middle of the 1980’s, Jensen, an American alloys company, developed a totally different alloy based on the platinoid alloy, with the view to distributing the product commercially. Even though the material is still currently in use, many professionals frown upon its usage, saying that some of these materials have failed to meet ISO standards (universal standards used by dentists around the world). Some say that it has only limited use, and can be used for certain procedures only.
Still today, scientists have struggled to find a way to overcome the limitations of the alloy, and relatively little progress has been made on its development for medicinal use since scientists began working on it in the 1940s. However, Park says he has made a breakthrough, and that Korean researchers are now able to provide a material that is safe, has a long lifespan and is competitively-priced, making it unique among existing alloy solutions.
Safe Materials with Lower Costs
When it comes to dental treatment, experts warn that dentists and patients alike should be careful about choosing materials, as one-time operations can have a lasting impact on dental health. Additional operations to correct previous procedures can have a negative effect on otherwise healthy teeth and gums, they say. The ceramic materials used for the treatment of aesthetic dental prosthesis may look good, as they are the same color as real teeth, but can run the risk of fracture after only a short period of usage. Dentists also say that it is not desirable for opposing dentition (the teeth on the opposite arch), because of the fact that this material is higher in solidity rate than natural teeth.
To supplement this, dental materials scholars in Germany, Japan and the United States have developed and completed a new Cerasin (Composite Resin-compound organic/inorganic chemical) solution that can be used in simple dental procedures and oral repairs, which can also provide a bumper function, like that of natural teeth, as well as providing strong fracture intensity and performance. This is achieved by combining inorganic and organic chemicals, and the solution is the product of some 15 years of intense research.
However, despite its many advantages, this solution has not yet been put to use widely by health professionals. Known as the Osslo Casting Crown, a product has been developed with the intensity to allow chemical combinations between this new form of Cerasin and metal alloys.
It is an irony that despite the advances of technology, researchers have so far failed to develop alloys to combine with the material. Not so anymore, says Park. His company, Osslo, is a Korean enterprise that specializes in dental alloy materials, and has now opened a new chapter in dental treatment by overcoming the obstacles related to this alloy.
One of the main challenges that researchers have been seeking to overcome was the fact that palladium, whereby one molecule of the metal needs to combine with 800 hydrogen molecules, causing weakness in casting performance, making it hard to for dentists to adapt it for use as a dental prosthesis material. The only way to overcome such a drawback is to add Indium to the Pd-Ag base.
However, adding Indium brings about problems of reduction in intensity, adhesion and discoloration, increased thermal expansion, the phenomenon of segregation, possible allergic reactions and other undesirable results. This has been the challenge for dental metallography experts in the past few decades.
Park says that these problems have been overcome now, and KFDA approval has followed, after four years’ worth of clinical trials conducted by dentists, three years’ clinics conducted by SNU dental prosthesis department. The result has been the Osslo Casting Crown and the Osslam Ceramic Crown, based upon three patented designs.
According to Park, technological innovations were not easy to complete. For a period of nine years, from 2005 to 2013, his team worked its way through the difficult clinical trial process. At times, he had to endure limitations in funds, and the physical strain of continued all-night research was not inconsiderable.
However, the most difficult part of it all was, explains Park, the fact that he had to find all of the answers on his own, because there was no metallographic theory or thesis in place to help him. During the four years he spent on the clinical trials process, he says he had to endure yet further difficulties as a result of the fact that few people accepted the approval he received from the KFDA. All that is behind him now, however, as Korean and international professionals in the medical world are now starting to come forward to profess their admiration for his groundbreaking work.
Developing this material does not just represent a major medical hurdle overcome, but also the birth of a global enterprise. It has come as the result of not being afraid to take on major challenges.
Convinced that the challenge was worth taking on, Park successfully overcame numerous hardships in an area unrelated to his educational background, making his accomplishment all the more worthwhile. After all his hard work, he is now enjoying almost constant attention from professionals throughout the dental industry.
His work makes up part of the creative economy, one of the themes embraced by the current Korean government. The government believes that the power of imagination can inspire innovation, and that personal creativity – if focused correctly – can be made applicable to all industries including agriculture and manufacture.
Industrial evolution is often regarded by analysts as comprising of agriculture, manufacturing, service industry, with the creative economy an afterthought. If creativity can be found in the field of science and technology, however, and can be combined with other related fields, there is every reason to believe that this creativity can be applied to almost any industry.
Developing materials for use in technological developments can only be made possible with a complete understanding of the entirety of the scope of dental medicine, metallography, dental material science, dental marketing and the greater marketing environment. Even before the Korean government began its creativity drive, Park was already hard at work, channeling his own practicing creativity to overcome challenges in this field. Park says that, although it is not easy, tackling obstacles using creativity and passion could be the path to a brighter economic future in Korea. Such a challenge will become all the more worthwhile in the future, and will help others overcome future obstacles.
Through such technological innovations time, Park insists, he wants to become a role model for younger people who might otherwise attempt to channel their efforts only into larger-scale enterprises. He says, “If young people become too engaged in their niches, they will find themselves with deep knowledge in a very narrow field. But there is also something to be said for gaining a broader range of knowledge in order to create a better effect.”
And Park says that if young Koreans can take on challenges that involve cross-subject matters, and find ways to channel their passion and creativity, a new generation of globally influential entrepreneurs will be able to make their mark in the years to come.
By Dan Yoo
