Emergency dental treatment on way to Mars

Abstract

Suffering from tooth pain? Then you will normally turn to a dentist for help. But what happens on a long-term, deep space mission when a crew member suffers from dental or jaw problems that cannot be treated and resolved sufficiently by pain medication? It is highly unlikely a professional dentist or dental technician will be part of a long-duration spaceflight and currently no procedure or technology is available to sustain and restore teeth during longterm missions, with the only planned and well-documented oral examination in space dating back to 1973. A European multi-disciplinary team is now developing a procedure that combines dental methods with the technical feasibility of 3D technology and human factors research to create a strategy that incorporates available resources both at the desired destination and back on Earth.