Third generation dentist Dr Nathan Cochrane often asked himself the question that his grandfather and great grandfather asked themselves: is there a way to repair decayed teeth before having to fill them, or pull them out?

A PhD and a patent later, Nathan has developed a system that reverses tooth decay while you sleep, by delivering a powerful solution of calcium, fluoride and phosphate directly to the teeth from a small tray that is fitted into the mouth overnight.  

Nathan’s research has now won him the national Early Career Scientists Award - an award open to scientists working in Cooperative Research Centres (58 around Australia) who are completing or have completed their PhDs within the last 12 months.

Nathan was one of four finalists in the competition who gave 10-minute presentations on their research at the 2009 Innovators Conference held in Canberra. He was up against other talented young scientists working in research fields as diverse as infectious diseases, geopolymers and fireproofing materials, and measuring the physical strain of fire-fighting.

The 500-strong audience voted Nathan's the best presentation on the basis of both its scientific content and Nathan’s ability to communicate the significance of his findings.

His award was presented by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, at an awards dinner held at Parliament House.

“Working as a dentist I see how teeth with fillings in them often weaken over time” says Nathan.  “My PhD project was a quest to find out whether a chemical process could be used to replace the minerals lost from teeth through decay.”

Nathan completed his PhD in October 2008 under the supervision of international tooth remineralisation expert Professor Eric Reynolds. His project demonstrated that calcium, phosphate and fluoride could be combined and stabilised using peptides isolated from cows’ milk, and that the minerals could re-grow the crystals of the teeth by diffusing into the tooth enamel. He also developed and patented a delivery device that fits over the teeth and localizes application of the solution for intense treatment.