CI-82: A Breakthrough Integrated Diagnostic and Therapeutic Resin for Cracked Tooth Syndrome in the Digital Dentistry Era

As the first benchmark competition in the Asia-Pacific region dedicated to digital dentistry innovation, the inaugural Digital Dentistry Innovation Challenge brought together cutting-edge innovative forces from across the industry. Under the guidance of the Rizhao Municipal Committee and Municipal Government, and with meticulous planning by the Administration Committee of Rizhao High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, the competition invited a professional jury composed of authoritative experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, top-tier universities, leading Grade A tertiary hospitals, and prominent investment institutions, garnering widespread attention from all sectors of the industry.

After rigorous screening and strict evaluation, 26 high-potential, innovative projects have emerged as finalists. These selected projects not only highlight the vitality and promising prospects of the digital dentistry industry but also represent the cutting-edge innovation within China’s digital dentistry sector. In the coming days, we will sequentially showcase these outstanding startups and their innovative teams, helping you stay attuned to the pulse of industry innovation.

Text | Haodeya

Current Project: CI-82 Dental Crack Bonding Technology

*The following content is excerpted from the project roadshow materials

The CI-82 Cracked Tooth Bonding Technology Project is rooted in the vital field of dental healthcare, which is closely linked to public welfare. It focuses on addressing the clinical challenges associated with the diagnosis and treatment of cracked teeth. Led by Dr. Han Peipei from the Medical School of Nanjing University, the project has undertaken systematic research and development. As an innovative solution for the management of cracked teeth, it has established a robust intellectual property portfolio comprising 34 granted invention patents, five software copyrights, and three scientific and technological achievement evaluations. Furthermore, it has formed an industry-academia-research collaboration network with 13 tertiary hospitals and medical device companies.

The project team believes that cracked teeth, as the third leading cause of tooth loss, have long been constrained in their diagnosis and treatment system by insufficient diagnostic accuracy and bottlenecks in therapeutic techniques. According to data from Sequoia Capital’s Industrial Research Institute, the number of orthodontic patients in China approached 16 million in 2024, with market demand for resin materials reaching approximately 5 million cases. However, foreign companies currently hold a 90% share of China’s dental materials market, and the latest generation of infiltrant resin products has not yet been domestically produced, creating a window for technological breakthroughs with market potential valued in the tens of billions of yuan.

The project team leveraged innovative R&D as a breakthrough point, implementing technological innovations on the basis of existing infiltration resins by introducing radiopaque functional components. This resulted in the world’s first theranostic resin material, establishing a unique technological moat. On the diagnostic front, the team’s independently developed YT1-2 contrast agent was synergistically optimized with CBCT imaging systems, innovatively establishing an enhanced radiopacity technology system for occult cracks. This advancement improved diagnostic clarity by 72%, secured 12 national patent grants, and passed the third-party technical maturity certification by the Jiangsu Medical Association.

On the treatment side, the team employs a self-adhesive, diagnosis-and-treatment-integrated resin material that achieves synergistic deep penetration and long-lasting sealing through optimized molecular weight distribution. After an eight-generation product iteration over a five-year R&D cycle, this material has been validated by leading institutions in China, the United States, and Europe. Certification from the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences demonstrates a 23% improvement in repair efficiency, along with a more significant cost advantage compared to imported competitors.

Behind these groundbreaking technological innovations lies a robust execution capability, built on the R&D team’s scientific prowess and industrialization experience. Over the past five years, the team has led or participated in more than 20 national and provincial/ministerial industry-academia-research projects, securing cumulative funding exceeding RMB 30 million. Their academic achievements include 103 SCI-indexed papers and contributions to the development of 16 Chinese and U.S. industry standards. Notably, the Jiangsu Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award received in 2021 signifies official recognition of their technology commercialization capabilities.

Dr. Han Peipei, the founder, was selected as one of only five elites in Europe for UIC’s Medical Science and Technology Innovation list, leveraging her interdisciplinary background in clinical medicine and materials science from Nanjing University, along with research experience at top international institutions such as Northwestern University and the Technical University of Munich. Dr. Wang Ying, a core team member and an imaging expert at the National Center for Quality Control in Stomatology, provides professional technical support for the project.

Looking ahead, the project team plans to establish a 3,000-square-meter integrated production and R&D base in Rizhao, Shandong Province. Of this space, 2,000 square meters will be allocated as a manufacturing center, while 1,000 square meters will be developed into an innovation and R&D center. As of February 2025, the team has secured orders worth over RMB 17 million and expects to launch a financing round valued at tens of millions of RMB in 2025. Notably, Matrix Partners China has expressed strong interest in the project. Through continuous technological iteration and market expansion, the project is poised to maintain its technological leadership over the next three years, achieving compound growth in both revenue and profit.

When the challenges of precision and efficiency in diagnosing and treating cracked teeth meet cross-disciplinary breakthroughs in materials science and clinical medicine, the CI-82 dental crack bonding technology rewrites the value logic of oral restoration with hard-core innovation. From redefining diagnostic boundaries through radiopaque functional resins to achieving higher-dimensional breakthroughs in penetration and sealing efficacy via molecular optimization technology, this advancement represents a precise dismantling of international monopolies under the wave of domestic substitution, as well as a systematic breakthrough of medical technology from the laboratory to the entire industrial chain.

Amidst the tension between a multi-billion-dollar market and tens of millions of patient needs, we see not only a technological moat forged through deep integration of industry, academia, and research, but also a return by Chinese intelligent manufacturing to the patient-centered essence of healthcare. As resin materials that improve diagnostic and treatment efficiency by 23% begin to permeate the dental care of tens of millions of patients, this may well serve as a small yet definitive footnote to China’s oral healthcare sector transforming from a follower into a rule-maker.