New technique made cavity disappear in about a month, mice study found

by Eric Bland


Dentists could soon hang up their drills. A new peptide,
embedded in a soft gel or a thin, flexible film and placed next to a
cavity, encourages cells inside teeth to regenerate in about a month,
according to a new study in the journal ACS Nano. This technology is the
first of its kind.

The new gel or thin film could eliminate the need to fill painful
cavities or drill deep into the root canal of an infected tooth.

“It’s not like toothpaste,” which prevent cavities, said Nadia
Benkirane-Jessel, a scientist at the Institut National de la Sante et de
la Recherche Medicale and a co-author of a recent paper. “Here we are
really trying to control cavities (after they develop).”

Cuttooth

Image via Wikipedia

Drilling teeth and filling them is safe and effective. Dentists fill
millions of cavities each year across the United States. However,
though
dentists numb the tooth,many patients still rue the sound of that
drill.

The new research could make a trip to the dentist’s office more
pleasant,said Berkirane-Jessel. Instead of a drill, a quick dab of gel
or a thin film against an infected tooth could heal teeth from within.

Cavities are bacteria and pus-filled holes on or in teeth which can
lead to discomfort, pain and even tooth loss. When people eat acidic
foods, consume sugary snacks or simply don’t maintain proper oral
hygiene, bacteria begin to eat away at the protective enamel and other
minerals inside teeth.

The causes of cavities are varied. But for most cavities, the
treatment is the same: drilling into a tooth, removing the decay and
filling in the hole to prevent further damage.

The gel or thin film contains a peptide known as MSH, or
melanocyte-stimulating
hormone
. Previous experiments, reported in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
showed that MSH
encourages bone regeneration.

Bone and teeth are fairly similar, so the French scientists reasoned
that if the MSH were applied to teeth, it should help healing as well.

To test their theory, the French scientists applied either a film or
gel, both of which contained MSH, to cavity-filled mice teeth. After
about one month, the cavities had disappeared, said Benkirane-Jessel.

Benkirane-Jessel
cautions that the MSH-containing films or gels only treat cavities;
they don’t prevent them.  People will still need to brush, floss and use
mouthwash to help prevent cavities from forming in the first place.

Treating
cavities without drilling “would have its advantages,” said Horn-Lay
Wang, a dentist at the University of Michigan.
Cavities and drilling can destroy the nerves and blood vessels inside a tooth, making it more brittle
and likely to fracture.  Regenerating a tooth can help avoid crowns
after a cavity has been filled. That said, regenerating a tooth from
within would only be useful in a relatively small number of cases. Most
cavities would still need to be drilled and filled.  In the meantime,
patients can’t slacken their oral hygiene either. Numerous clinical trials over several years will have
to be completed before the MSH-containing gels or films are available
to treat cavities in humans.

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