Sir, I have a keen interest in advances in technology and find it a fascinating topic to keep informed of. As of late, I have learned of an exciting development which has recently been granted a European CE Mark and may possibly be a technology that could change the future of how personal audio is transmitted to our ears via our teeth.

A company in the USA has developed a hearing aid which picks up sound from a microphone located behind the ear and wirelessly transmits these data to a removable intra-oral prosthesis. The intra-oral prosthesis is attached to the patient's maxillary molar teeth and converts these data into vibrational energy via micro actuators which in turn is picked up by the cochleae bypassing the middle ear all by conduction of bone. It is intended for patients with 'single sided deafness, conductive hearing loss or mixed hearing loss' and is the first non-surgical and removable hearing prosthesis which transmits sound via teeth. The company claims it delivers high-fidelity sound and eliminates the need for surgically placed cochlear implants.

I can appreciate there will be refinements made to this device, and could be developed into exciting technologies of the future such as wireless intra-oral personal headphones, hands-free headsets for mobile phone users and even military communications. However, I can also envisage dental difficulties, for example, how this attaches in an edentulous patient, plaque retentive factors and risk of inhalation. Also if this device requires a repair would this become a service a dentist should provide and will this require some form of training? This is certainly an interesting and unexplored field that has scope for many daily uses and may even strengthen our future relation with ENT specialists whom we would potentially work closely with to construct such devices.