BEDFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spire Biomedical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spire Corporation (Nasdaq: SPIR), announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), has awarded Spire a nine-month Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I Grant for $114,173, to develop coatings for dental arch wires used in orthodontics. The purpose of the coatings is to reduce sliding resistance between the arch wire and bracket, lowering the force required to straighten teeth, reducing treatment times, and resulting in more predictable outcomes for the orthodontist.