Chennai: The European Patent Office (EPO) has announced that the Indian-American chemist Sumita Mitra has been nominated as a finalist in the ‘Non-EPO countries’ category of the European Inventor Award 2021.
Mitra was the first to apply nanotechnology to the production of dental materials, leading to the creation of a newcomposite to repair teeth which has many advantages over conventional materials.
Mitra’s material overcomes many of the limitations of previous dental composites, which were either too weak to be used on biting surfaces, or quickly lost their polish and became physically unattractive.In addition, her inventionis more versatile than other composites, meaningit can be used in any area of the mouth, and simplifies the filling procedure for dentists.