Great news a team of scientists from China’s Zhejiang University and Jiujiang Research Institute has discovered how to grow back tooth enamel.
Billion of people are affected by tooth decay from the loss of tooth enamel; the new research offers new hope to solve this global problem.
Enamel is a mineralized substance with a highly complicated structure that covers the surface of the teeth; once tooth enamel wears away, it doesn’t grow back.
The team of scientists from China has created a gel that can effectively make the external surface of the tooth enamel repair itself. The material mimics the natural mineralization process of our teeth outer layer. An experiment on a mouse, took around 48 hours for the enamel to regrow.
Enamel is so complexed that its composition has yet to be precisely duplicated. What the dentist currently use to fill holes consist of cement, silicon-based, or calcium composites, which don’t always last forever.
White fillings require a bonding which can be a problem as it degrades and allows leakage. Silver fillings consist of at least 50% mercury, which is not the best option for your health according to research. Fillings are made up of foreign materials, which means it will deteriorate over time.
The gel produced by Chinese scientists is made up of calcium and phosphate ions. Both minerals are of the same material as our teeth enamel. There are concerns about the toxicity of triethylamine and the consistency being too thin.
Until the material is considered safe to test on humans, the team will continue testing on mice. If all goes well, tests on humans may start within a year or two, and until then look after your teeth or rely on fillings.
Info on the findings at Science Advances.
In 1960s medical laser was used, and doctors have piled up anecdotal evidence that low-level light therapy can stimulate various kind of biological processes. Researchers found that teeth could restore with the use of the lasers — the use of light to coax stem cells to repair teeth.
With teeth regeneration researched globally, reconstructing teeth is heading in the right direction, giving us hope of not having to go through some painful processes.