Fight Tooth Decay with Electricity

Erica Campbell writes "According to IsraCast, The Israeli Company Fluorinex Active has developed a new technology that can protect the tooth from cavities for 5 years with one simple electrical treatment. The company is currently working on a small device which, together with a gel, will impose an efficient ion exchange process through an Electro-chemical reaction in which fluor ions displace the Hydroxide ions at the outer layer of the tooth. This is intended to produce a new mineral layer with significantly improved chemical and physical resistance to the aggressive bacteria and the resulting acidic environment in the mouth."

Comments

Would this affect coloring?

[PornMaster]

Would this process affect the coloration of the teeth?

It'd really suck to lock in any staining...

Re:Would this affect coloring?

[Brigadier]

well a floride coating is what natrually protects our teeth, thats why tap water, and toothpaste have this as an additive. Actually I just read that tooth decay is on the rise because many of us no longer drink tap water wwhich is forified with floride. From what I understand this is basically a electrochemical process which artficially bonds the floride to our teeth.

Re:Would this affect coloring?

[Chazerizer]

Actually, the effect of fluoride is not real well known. It's believed to replace the phosphate ions in the main mineral of bone, which is hydroxyapatite. The result is a mineral which forms a slightly tighter crystaline matrix. This results in a greater resistance toward all forms of damage. And since the fluoride ions replace the mineral toward the edge of the teeth, its far enough away from the blood supply to be released into the general circulation.

Re:Would this affect coloring?

[bani]

"what if fluoride causes acne?" "what if fluoride causes global warming?" "what if fluoride knocks the earth off its orbit?" "what if fluoride brings about the second coming?"

If there were some detrimental effect from fluoridated water, we would have seen some observable difference in effects on populations receiving fluoridated water vs those receiving non fluoridated water in the past 60 years don't you think? But the only difference we observe is a marked reduction in tooth decay in the population receiving fluoridated water. If there is any other difference, it is so small as to be unmeasurable by modern statistical methods.

I'm open to evidence, if you have any. Playing "what if?" games is a silly waste of time.

fluoridated water, along with vaccination and family planning, are a few of the major public health accomplishments of the 20th century. yet you will find very vocal detractors for each of them.

Re:NIMM

[eepok]

Everythings sounds crazy until you find out it works. Lots of people thought it was crazy to implent porcelain teeth with titanium roots that bond to bone... but it happened. AND they're not suceptible to rot.

Re:Wouldn't dentists fight this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually I've noticed a disturbing trend. Now that more and more people have "good teeth" (because a larger and larger % of the popullation has been brushing their teeth all their life), dentists are "diversifying."

Whereas before they would only fix cavities, now they are telling me that I need a tissue graft from my pallet onto a receeding section of my gums, that I need cleanings every 6 months at least, and that more orthodontic work wouldn't hurt either. After getting second opinions, I've determined that most of what they are suggesting is unnecessary... Basically they are trying to maintain their revenue stream by going after more obscure and largely non-worrisome problems.

Yes this is based on my own anecdotal experience (and talking to others), so it's a highly skewed opinion. But it seems to me that dentists are "inventing" new problems to treat and deal with, since the core problem (cavities, etc.) has been solved satisfactorily.

fluoride is toxic waste

[Randall_Jones]

Ok, I'm preparing for the tin foil hat jokes, but fluoride's actually not good for people. Granted, a treatment that binds fluoride to the surface of the teeth is better than drinking it, but I'd prefer if we didn't fuck with fluoride at all. Almost all fluoride that's produced is merely a biproduct of other chemical reactions. If city governments didn't buy this stuff from chemical plants to put in drinking water, they'd have to dispose of it like any other toxic waste.

Re:fluoride is toxic waste

[Randall_Jones]

when in doubt, I tend to believe the group that doesn't have a monetary interest in the outcome, and fluorinating municipal water supplies subsidizes the chemical industry--guys who have influence and deep pockets. Second, flouride treatment is only effective when it's in contact with the teeth, actually absorbing it into your blood stream is unneccessary, if there's any question about possible adverse health effects, why expose yourself to something that's unneccessary. Third, fluoride has no dosage control, someone who uses hippy organic toothpaste and generally drinks bottled water is getting doses wildly different from someone who cooks with and drinks 8 glasses of tap water a day. Seems like a hamfisted dental hygeine policy to me. That said, yes, I tend to have faith in the CDC, this is just something else to consider.

Re:Other approaches

[Verteiron]

I fully expect all such measures to be blocked in the USA by the ADA.

a variant on cathodic protection

[twilight30]

One of the first things I learned while working at a solar power firm was the concept or use of anti-corrosion techniques, which just sounded amazing to me at the time. Essentially you can protect metal from oxidising by putting a residual electrical charge over it -- which you can get directly from a working solar panel during the day. Night-time hours would be powered by a battery that you would charge with the excess electricity from the panel accumulated during the day.

I'm oversimplifying it massively here, but cathodic protection is a priority application for solar panels and equipment in remote areas, such as pipeline and radio-transmitter installations in the high Arctic.

This treatment sounds like a weird and cool transferral of the idea to teeth.

Re:a variant on cathodic protection

[uab21]

Unsubstantiated story, but when I was an intern at NASA, I heard the story that this method was used to prevent corrosion in some underground tanks containing pressurized cryogenics for use in blow-down wind tunnels at NASA Ames. The current was incorrectly applied, and it accelerated, the corrosion, rather than delaying it, and when the tanks failed there was spectacularly bubbling and heaving mud over the tank location for several days. Wish I could have seen that

Re:Ridiculous

[gardyloo]

Yes, but what about those of us who want to live for more then 20 years?

      Eat lots of other animals. For the best results, eat those who've only eaten lots of sweet fruits. Mmm!

Re:Wouldn't dentists fight this?

[NilObject]

You are painfully on target. (Pun intended, I guess.)

I spent my Senior year in High School going through a series of "necessary" gingival grafts. The pain was excruciating because the Viccodin didn't do much for me and I ended up not taking it because it screwed with my attention span, which was bad when I was drilling myself through AP Calculus and English among other things (girlfriend included!).

It turns out that everyone in my family has "receding" gums. That's just how they are - small. The doctor made a few thousand dollars, I got one cool picture of my shredded mouth roof. Exciting. Thank you, profit motive!

Too complicated

[AlterTick]

Bizarre devices that add hardened layers to teeth seems like the wrong way to go. I want to know when the FDA is going to approve the modified streptococcus mutans bacteria they developed at U of Florida. Strep M lives in your mouth naturally. When it eats sugar, it excretes lactic acid. The lactic acid is what rots your teeth. The Strep M they made at UofF has been "fixed" so that it doesn't produce lactic acid. The way you use it is simple. They innoculate your mouth with the new Strep M and instruct you to eat lots of sugar. The new Strep M quickly displaces the natural Strep M. So far, tests show that the natural, damaging Strep M doesn't come back. No electricity, no gel; the major source of tooth decay is simply eliminated. More here

Re:Gums.

[ObiWanKenblowme]

Then again, if memory serves, the majority of "older people" in pre-16th century times were around 30 years old, so I'm not sure refined sugars from the new world can really be considered a causal factor here. Seems just as likely that most people simply died before their teeth finished rotting.

Re:You're probably right.

[mrogers]

Whereas comparing an analogy to another similar one is valid?