Gel Your Teeth Back to Normal: No More Cavities

Anything to end the plague of having teeth drilled and filled.  Dentists will soon be liked, not feared or hated.




Gel that can help decayed teeth grow back could end fillings




By Pat Hagan
Daily Mail
27th July 2010


A gel that can help decayed teeth grow back in just weeks may mean an end to fillings.

The gel, which is being developed by scientists in France, works by prompting cells in teeth to start multiplying. They then form healthy new tooth tissue that gradually replaces what has been lost to decay.

Researchers say in lab studies it took just four weeks to restore teeth back to their original healthy state. The gel contains melanocyte-stimulating hormone, or MSH.

We produce this in the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland just behind the bridge of the nose.

MSH is already known to play an important part in determining skin colour - the more you have, the darker your flesh tone.

But recent studies suggest MSH may also play a crucial role in stimulating bone regeneration.

As bone and teeth are very similar in their structure, a team of scientists at the National Institute for Health and Medical Research in Paris tested if the hormone could stimulate tooth growth.

Their findings, published in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano, could signal hurtnot just an end to fillings, but the dreaded dentist drill as well. Tooth decay is a major public health problem in Britain. Around £45m a year is spent treating decayed teeth and by the age of 15, teenagers have had an average of 2.5 teeth filled or removed.

Decay is caused by bacteria, called streptococcus mutans, that live in the mouth and feed on sugar in the diet. Once the bacteria stick to the enamel, they trigger a process called demineralisation - they turn sugar in the diet into a harmful acid that starts to create holes in the teeth.

For decades, the main treatment for cavities has been to 'drill and fill'. However, an estimated one in five Britons suffers from dental phobia, a fear of dentists which means some would rather endure pain and suffering than face the prospect of having their teeth drilled.

The new treatment is painless. And although fillings halt decay, they can come loose and sometimes need refilling.

Experts believe new tooth cells would be stronger and a permanent solution.

The French team mixed MSH with a chemical called poly-L-glutamic acid. This is a substance often used to transport drugs inside the body because it can survive the harsh environments, such as the stomach, that might destroy medicines before they get a chance to work.

The mixture was then turned into a gel and rubbed on to cells, called dental pulp fibroblasts, taken from extracted human teeth. These cells are the kind that help new tooth tissue to grow.

But until now there has been no way of 'switching' them back on once they have been destroyed by dental decay. The researchers found the gel triggered the growth of new cells and also helped with adhesion - the process by which new dental cells 'lock' together.

This is important because it produces strong tooth pulp and enamel which could make the decayed tooth as good as new.

In a separate experiment, the French scientists applied the gel to the teeth of mice with dental cavities. In just one month, the cavities had disappeared. The gel is still undergoing testing but could be available for use within three to five years.

Professor Damien Walmsley, the British Dental Association's scientific adviser, said the gel could be an interesting new development, but stressed it is unlikely to be able to repair teeth that have been extensively damaged by decay.

'There are a lot of exciting developments in this field, of which this is one,' he said. 'It looks promising, but we will have to wait for the results to come back from clinical trials and its use will be restricted to treating small areas of dental decay.'

Scientists have developed a 'tongue' gel as part of a new approach to tackling bad breath and preventing tooth decay.

Halitosis is usually caused by bacteria in the mouth. The latest treatment, developed by Meridol, takes a mechanical and chemical approach. It consists of a tongue scraper, gel and mouth wash.

The extra-flat tongue cleaner is used to scrape bacteria off the tongue. The tongue gel and mouthwash are anti-bacterial and contain chemicals that attach themselves to odour-producing compounds, which are then flushed out with the mouthwash. Both gel and mouthwash contain fluoride.






 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
teeth

Medieval Teeth

Medieval teeth 'better than Baldrick's'

BBC, October 8, 2004
Jane Elliott BBC News Online health staff

Think of medieval England and you are likely to conjure up an image of a wizened hag with black stumps for teeth.

But although that might have been the unfortunate state of some people's teeth, others had much better care.

Documents show that, not only were the educationally elite aware of the importance of keeping their teeth clean, but they also knew how to fill cavities and deal with facial fractures.

They could recognise oral cancer and even knew the rudiments of teeth whitening.

Advanced

A paper published in the British Dental Journal shows that medieval (12-14th century) literature even makes reference to creating false teeth.

The paper's author, osteo-archeologist Trevor Anderson, said the papers referred to ways of preserving and improving teeth.

"There were liquids to whiten teeth, methods of removing calculus (plaque) and compounds for filling cavities.

"There is also a reference to dentures made of human teeth or cow bone.

"Surgery is known for oral cancer as well as the repair of fractured jaws."

But Mr Anderson said the documents would only have been available to an elite group of physicians and surgeons, usually based in the larger cities or university towns.

He added: "The richer the person was the more sugar they had in their diet and therefore the more decay. The medieval peasants would probably have been eating a coarser diet and so they would have less trapped in their teeth and therefore less decay.

"Most people would probably have to rely largely on local barber surgeons, the local blacksmith, their friends and their own traditional remedies to treat dental problems."

Herbs

One of the earliest texts 'The Chirurgia of Roger Frugard', which was written in Latin in Italy around 1180AD mentions oral cancer and suggests surgery.

It recommends that in the acute stages the disease can be cured by cutting into the normal flesh around the cancer, cauterising the wound and then sealing it with egg yolk before washing it with wine.

After three days the wound should be rubbed with alum before applying a lotion made from wine and honey and infused with the roots of the herb mullein; honeysuckle, pomegranate and ginger.

It also suggests solving dislocation of the jaw by applying a preparation of marshmallow and giving the patient soft, easily digested food to ensure that chewing does not lead to further dislocation.

The remedy for toothache suggests cauterising the skin behind the ears before heating the plant henbane and leek seeds over hot coals and ensuring the patient inhales the smoke through a funnel.

Welsh folklore makes of the period mentions a variety of herbal remedies and a combination of magic and prayer to cure toothache.

Early forms of teeth whitening include using the herb elecampane (Inula helenium) to scrub the teeth and taking sage leaves and making a powder of them and salt.

Sage, along with rosemary and mallows, is suggested to help alleviate gangrene and, soreness of the mouth and along with salt and vinegar to help deal with mouth cancer.

But as well as using the more traditional herbs, writers also suggest several bizarre recipes to promote painless extractions. One instructs medieval dentists to:

"Take some newts, by some called lizards, and those nasty beetles which are found in fens during the summer time, calcine them in an iron pot and make a powder thereof.

"Wet the forefinger of the right hand, insert it in the powder, and apply it to the tooth frequently, refraining from spitting it off, when the tooth will fall away without pain. It is proven."

Prayer

Another, from 1314AD, suggests that simply praying to St Apollonia on her feast day of February 9th,will cure toothache. She was an elderly deaconess who was martyred by having all her teeth extracted and was then burnt alive.

Other literature of the period includes tips to avoid "stinking of the breath" by gargling birch and mint soaked in wine and rubbing the gums with a strong linen cloth until they bleed.

Material used for early fillings include gall nuts, pig grease and myrrh. sulphur, camphor, beeswax, arsenic among others.

Jo Tanner of the BDA said the research showed a fascinating insight into medieval dentistry.
"When most people think about medieval teeth, they think of the likes of Baldrick from Blackadder.

"What this research shows, though, is that our ancestors were far more aware of the value of a good smile than we have previously given them credit for.

"While tooth whitening may be more commonly associated with today's pop stars and Hollywood actors, this research shows that their medieval ancestors were every bit as concerned about projecting star quality with their smiles."




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