BIOLASE Gets Root Canal Patent

Leading dental laser maker BIOLASE Technology (BLTI - Snapshot Report) has secured a new patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for cleaning and disinfecting root canals, a dental procedure for removing the entire internal part of the tooth and filing the cavity with bio-compatible material.

Root canal therapy, a form of endodontic surgery, is performed when the entire internal parts (mainly the pulp chamber and its contents) are infected or decayed primarily due to microbial invasion. Roughly 30 to 50 million root canal procedures are performed annually in the U.S. with the drill and metal endodontic files (instruments used by dentists/endodontists for the procedure).

However, root canal therapy is associated with a 10%-15% failure rate due to under filled/missed root canals, tooth fractures and insufficient cleaning, resulting in leakage or re-contamination. Improvement in cleaning and sterilization of the root canal increases the chances of success of the procedure.

The new patent called "Fluid Controllable Laser Endodontic Cleaning and Disinfecting System" covers the use of an endodontic probe (loaded with cleaning particles/agents and measuring kit) to perform the cleaning and disinfection of the target tissues during the root canal therapy. This represents BIOLASE’s tenth patent issued in this field.

BIOLASE develops and markets lasers and related products for applications in medicine and dentistry. Its key products are dental laser systems that perform a broad spectrum of dental procedures, including cosmetic and complex surgical applications. Dental products distributor Henry Schein (HSIC - Snapshot Report) is one of its key distributors.

The company’s revenues more than doubled year over year in the most recent quarter, largely attributable to the healthy demand for its WaterLase iPlus dental laser, which accounted for roughly 63% of total sales.

BIOLASE’s Endolase root canal therapy system, which leverages its proprietary Waterlase technology and patented techniques, has shown to cut root canal bacterial level by roughly 99.7%. The company feels that the new patent coupled with its existing intellectual property should enable it to achieve its goal of complete root canal sterilization.

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