'Heroes of Chemistry' for saving teeth, clean water, new high blood pre...(ty said ACS President Thomas H. Lane Ph...),Health

The 2009 Heroes of Chemistry will be honored here during ACS' 238th National Meeting. The recognition ceremony and dinner is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 16, at the Park Hyatt Washington DC hotel. John LaMattina, Ph.D., former Senior Vice President of Pfizer Inc. and former President of Pfizer Global Research and Development, will be keynote speaker. He is the author of Drug Truths: Dispelling the Myths about Pharma R&D.

Mitra invented a whole genre of new materials including "white fillings" that dentists around the world use as adhesives to glue crowns and veneers to teeth and to repair decayed, cracked or broken teeth. These materials are thick, semi-solid dental composite "resins" that harden quickly when the dentist exposes them to a curing light. They match the color of a patient's natural teeth, maintaining those bright, toothy smiles.

Experts regard Mitra's "resin-modified glass ionomner technology" as a landmark in modern dental materials. Placed inside when a cavity is ready for filling, for instance, it prevents hot-cold sensitivity and secondary decay. Repairing that decay which occurs under fillings costs patients and insurers almost $5 billion annually in the United States alone.

Mitra also invented the first universal or multipurpose dental nanocomposite filling material that can be used for all kinds of tooth repair. Based on nanotechnology, and marketed as 3M ESPE Filtek Supreme Universal Restorative, it hardens into a material with all the strength and glossy, translucent appearance of natural tooth enamel. It is the No. 1 selling dental composite in the United States.

"Dr. Mitra's extraordinary inventions have changed the field of dentistry for dentists and patients around the world," sa
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