History

• The word ozone is derived from the Greek word “OZEIN” which means odor.
• Christian Friedrich Shöbein (1840) recognized the ozone by its pungent odor and he is regarded as the
• Father of ozone therapy.
• In 1857 the first ozone generator for medical use was developed.
• In 1870 the first report on the ozone effects for purifying the blood in medical use.
• In 1881, it was used as a disinfectant in the treatment of diphtheria.
• In 1885, Florida Medical Association published the boook Ozone, written by Dr. Charles J. Kenworth, which details on the use of ozone on therapeutic purposes.
• In 1896, the first Ozone generating system was patented by Nikola Tesla.
• The dentist Fisch used ozone in dental procedure even before 1932 and in 1950 the ozonated water was used for dental procedure.
• In 1971 the International Ozone Institute (IOI), now know as International Ozone Association (IOA).
• After 150 years of studies and experiments, nowadays the oxygen-ozone therapy has been widely used all over the world.

Applications

The industrial ozone applications have been developed very quickly, in particular in Healthcare field (hospital, nursing home, wellness center), zootechnical, farming, food, military and civil field (house, office and gym sanitization).

On the contrary of harmful to human’s chlorine and the various chlorine derivates, ozone is a gas characterized by a very high oxidation potential, capable of destruction of all types of viruses, fungi, bacteria and spores. This gas can be used for water and air treatment, but also for the prevention and treatment of different dental pathologies.

Ozone in Dentistry

Among the most studied molecules of the Twentieth Century, ozone was used for the first time in dentistry in 1950. In July 1996 ozone was recognized by the Italian Ministry of Health as “natural means for the environment sterilization”. From that moment, thanks to the big success of the oxygen-ozone therapy, ozone sanitary applications have developed very quickly.

Ozone embraces all dental practice, as it is applicable in many areas, such as caries prevention and treatment, endodontics, oral surgery, periodontics, implantology, prevention and treatment of surgical infections. Furthermore, ozone helps in case of alveolitis, peri-implantitis and periodontitis. Ozone significantly improves the dental treatment quality and speeds up the patient healing.