Professor Lee Sang-bae’s Research Team Develops New Dental Adhesive Polymer

A research team that includes Yonsei College of Dentistry Professors Lee Sang-bae, Kim Gwang-man, and Kim Kyoung-nam has developed a new dental adhesive polymer that is effective on wet dentin surfaces, potentially eliminating complications from saliva contamination. The new adhesive should help to improve the efficacy of dental restorations of all types. According to the Yonsei professors, who are faculty in the Department of Dental Biomaterials and Bioengineering: “By organically integrating the catechol group and the currently-used methoxyethyl group in the adhesive, we created a new adhesive which can be used commercially.”

The results of the research were published July 15 in Biomacromolecules, a journal of the American Chemical Association. The article, “Catechol-Functionalized Synthetic Polymer as a Dental Adhesive to Contaminated Dentin Surface for a Composite Restoration,” was the most widely read Biomacromolecules article for July.