By Jesse Emspak
Dentists have been putting gold crowns and filings in mouths for more than a century; now they could be putting gold sensors on teeth as well.
The technology is called a "tooth tattoo" and it was designed by Princeton nanoscientist Michael McAlpine and Tufts bioengineers Fiorenzo Omenetto, David Kaplan and Hu Tao. It's made of gold, silk and graphite. The sensor would measure the levels of bacteria in the mouth. That can tell dentists whether you're getting closer to developing gum disease.
Don't want to tattoo your skin? Tattoo your teeth instead
There are lots of other diseases that show signs in the saliva --AIDS and stomach ulcers are two -- and this is why dentists always ask about your overall health when you go for a cleaning.
The sensor is pretty simple: a layer of gold (the electrode), a layer of graphene and a peptide that bonds with the graphene on one end and bacteria on the other. Supporting the whole thing a layer of silk.
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