College of Science, Engineering & Technology

Adding gold to titanium dental implants to keep patients smiling longer

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Losing a tooth can be a painful and traumatic experience, but fortunately, today, we have options to ease the loss – in the form of dental implants. The implant is made of two components: the screw which is placed in the gum and the crown which sits on top of the screw.

Young talent Ayesha Osman, Unisa PhD candidate and 2023 FameLab SA heat winner

If an infection takes place between the screw and bone, it can cause severe pain and lead to degeneration of the bone and, ultimately, cause the implant to fall out.

That is part of the three-minute winning science talk presented by Ayesha Osman at the 2023 FameLab SA / Unisa regional heat. Osman is a PhD candidate in chemical engineering and a lecturer in the Department of Civil and Chemical Engineering.

According to the FameLab website, "FameLab is an international competition to find and support the world’s most talented new science communicators. Participants have three minutes to win over the judges and audience with a scientific talk that excels for its content, clarity and charisma."

Osman, a young talent from Unisa’s College of Science, Engineering and Technology, came out tops, impressing the judges by simplifying her science to reach a wider audience.

When asked about her experience with regard to being trained in science communication and participating in the FameLab SA competition, Osman says it was a brilliant opportunity. She adds that the judges gave excellent advice and critique, and that the hosts (Jive Media Africa) were bubbly and full of energy. "It was truly a fun experience," she says.


Optimising materials used in dental implant screws

Together with her supervisor, Osman is trying to add gold and copper to currently used titanium to form an antibacterial material that can be used for the dental implant.

Their research involves studying the material properties and finding a mix of elements that works and then melting the elements together so that they can study the properties.

"I find corrosion fascinating and knew I wanted to be involved in the field of materials," comments Osman. "An amazing opportunity came up to investigate the metals used for dental implants with a brilliant researcher. This was the perfect topic for me."

If they are able to develop a material or dental implant screw that has antibacterial properties, they could reduce the amount of pain and trauma experienced when a dental implant becomes infected or, ultimately, fails.

Osman will be representing Unisa at the national FameLab competition with other young researchers and innovators from South Africa’s institutions of higher education and training.

"I am quite excited to hear about all the other amazing research my peers are doing on a national level," she enthuses. 

Unisa will be rooting for Osman at the FameLab SA competition later this year.

* By Mpho Moloele, PR and Communications, Department of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation

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Publish date: 2023-07-06 00:00:00.0

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