Important advances

18 June 2015
Volume 31 · Issue 5

A new technology which could increase protection against antibacterial and antifungal infection for weeks, months or years has been developed by researchers at the University of Bristol. 

The technology is likely to have significant impact across a number of areas including dentistry, where one in seven composite fillings fail within seven years and 86 per cent of these failures are caused by bacterial infection.  

Developed by Dr Michele Barbour and her research group in the University’s School of Oral and Dental Sciences, Pertinax is a new formulation of chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine is a proven antimicrobial agent, used widely to prevent and treat a range of infections, but in its traditional formulation is effective for only a very short length of time.

Pertinax increases chlorhexidine’s uses by improving its persistence where it is applied. This innovation has won Dr Barbour and Pertinax the £25,000 Materials Science Venture Prize awarded by The Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers.

“Pertinax can greatly extend the active lifetime of chlorhexidine, enabling it to provide reliable protection against infection for very much longer than was previously possible. This opens up a range of new potential applications, as well as the opportunity to make existing products more effective,” said Dr Barbour, Senior Lecturer in Biomaterials in the School of Oral & Dental Sciences.

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