You brush your teeth a few times a day, floss, gargle with mouthwash, and yet when you visit the dentist, they find a cavity. Then comes the needle that is stabbed into the nerve in your mouth, and then a drill that still hurts. Let’s face it: drilling teeth and filling the holes seems quite barbaric. The good news is that Dentists have developed a treatment that can regenerate rotten teeth which would reduce the need for fillings.
How does this work? The treatment works by enhancing the teeth to repair themselves through stem cell activation in the soft pulp within the center of the tooth. This process is normally limited to the repair of tiny cracks and holes in the dentine, which is what’s beneath the surface enamel. Now, scientists have shown that they can further enhance this by using an Alzheimer’s drug that will use the tooth’s own cells to fix cavities from within the tooth to the surface.
“Almost everyone on the planet has tooth decay at some time – it’s a massive volume of people being treated. We’ve deliberately tried to make something really simple, really quick and really cheap.” Prof Paul Sharpe, who led the work at King’s College London, said.
After being used on mice, the trial has proven successful. Instead of drilling and filling the holes with fillings, the tooth would heal more naturally without the constant threat of the fillings deteriorating and falling out. Trust me when I tell you that chewing cum and hearing a crunch of a filling in your mouth is quite unpleasant.
“The tooth is not just a lump of mineral, it’s got its own physiology. You’re replacing a living tissue with an inert cement,” explained Sharpe. “Fillings work fine, but if the tooth can repair itself, surely [that’s] the best way. You’re restoring all the vitality of the tooth.”
This treatment would not completely erase the need for a drill since the decaying part of the tooth will have to be removed: “Sorry, you’re still going to have the drill, you can’t get away from that, I’m afraid,” said Sharpe.
The treatment for uses a drug called “tideglusib,” which is used as an Alzheimer’s drug. What it does is help stimulate the stem cells at the center of the tooth and triggers the production of dentine.
Just because this treatment could soon become available doesn’t mean you should stop taking care of your teeth. If you walk into a dentist looking like a hockey player that does meth, I’m pretty sure this treatment would be too much a mountain to climb.
(Via The Guardian)
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
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