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'Tooth Repair Drug' May Replace Fillings (bbc.com)
Teeth can be encouraged to repair themselves in a way that could see an end to fillings, according to scientists. From a report on BBC: The team at King's College London showed that a chemical could encourage cells in the dental pulp to heal small holes in mice teeth. A biodegradable sponge was soaked in the drug and then put inside the cavity. The study, published in Scientific Reports, showed it led to "complete, effective natural repair." Teeth have limited regenerative abilities. They can produce a thin band of dentine -- the layer just below the enamel -- if the inner dental pulp becomes exposed, but this cannot repair a large cavity. [...] Scientists discovered that a drug called Tideglusib heightened the activity of stem cells in the dental pulp so they could repair 0.13mm holes in the teeth of mice. A drug-soaked sponge was placed in the hole and then a protective coating was applied over the top. As the sponge broke down it was replaced by dentine, healing the tooth.
You'd think tooth enamel is the most precious and hard to come by substance in the human body.
Punch line still coming?
...development, namely food additives that could actually help heal your teeth or at least as an micro-repair that's not damaging to the body, but will fill up microcavities over time.
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
Unless they can charge more than they do for fillings (or at least make more profit), I don't see this taking off in the US.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
There are two interesting statements in the article that makes me hope this isn't vaporware.
Prof Sharpe said a new treatment could be available soon: "I don't think it's massively long term, it's quite low-hanging fruit in regenerative medicine and hopeful in a three-to-five year period this would be commercially available."
and
However, the drug has already been trialled in patients as a potential dementia therapy.
"The safety work has been done and at much higher concentrations so hopefully we're on to a winner," said Prof Sharpe.
I'd expect the Dental cartel, uh I mean the American Dental Association, to bury this research before it comes to market and cuts into their enormous profits.
Having been to the dentist today, I can only say this this can't come soon enough.
Our new performance enhanced rodent overlords.
HEY - that's my power cord! Get out of
Is probably the only field of medicine that hasn't changed substantially in the past 100 years.
I know you are trying to be cynical, which is popular on slashdot....
But high price is not the only variable that determines profit. If the price of this treatment is significant lower, dentists can get a higher profit margin while still charging a lower price than regular fillings.
And even if it is more expensive, people will spring for the higher price to avoid the suffering of a filling.
This should be obvious. Seriously. You are so steeped in negativity that your ability to think clearly has been impaired.
Or this could go the path of NovaMin and never be approved by the FDA in the United states. It would not b in the interest of BIG DENTAL.
"A 'person' is smart. 'People' are dumb, panicky animals and you know that."
Try 'fuck' :)
"Trump!!", the new Godwin.
TIL Osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis is a thing.
I bet some people would give their eye-teeth for a tooth eye.
Geeze Louise, The Bard was right when he wrote "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. "
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Do you know what fluoridation is? It's an insidious communist plot to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face.
If they can do more of this, quicker: then it can take off.
If they can do it with less overhead but charge relatively the same (or a bit less): then it can take off
The ability to provide a lower priced offering increases profits.
This is really, really basic stuff. Anyone who can put a sentence together as well as you can should be able to understand this.
Seriously, you are going out of your way to be stupid in order to be cynical.
I can see them fighting against this tooth and nail.
"Tideglusib"
I'm pretty sure I got an offer to buy WoW Gold ingame from someone with that name last night.
-Styopa
Kidney Stones?
Easy peasy, make up the difference removing teeth from the poor unfortunates that experience hyperdontia as a result of this treatment.
nb - do not GIS that if you want to sleep tonight
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
This in turn led to a deluge of ill-informed anti-science...
Oh, hang on, I think there is a whoosh going over my head.
Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
And now the whoosh is a guy riding a nuke down to it's target.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
If it costs more and a dentist tries to use only the new fillings so he can make more profit, patients will simply go to a different cheaper dentist who uses the old fillings.
If it costs less and a dentist tries to use only the old fillings so he can preserve his profit, people will simply go to a different cheaper dentist who uses the new fillings.
Either way, the dentist who tries to take the route with larger profit margin will lose customers and probably go broke. And people will be able to get fillings for cheaper. That's how competition works in the free market. The only way a dentist would be able to thwart this is if he (or his dental group) did like 80%+ of the fillings in the country.
I don't think you deserved to be down modded. I've also taken a similar approach in the past. Eat sardines, get lots of sun, eat no starches or drink anything sweet and not brushing and even very severe tooth aches tend to go away in a week or so.
Anecdotal of course but I do think there must be something to be said for saturating the teeth with lots of minerals and having tons of vitamin d available.
Nobody with recent, close experience with a teething toddler would say that people's incentive to take care of their teeth will go away when dentists perfect the ability to grow new teeth in an adult mouth (they've already seen success in mice).
While I would certainly opt to teeth a new tooth as an option to root canal therapy + crown, if an onlay is good enough then you can bet I ain't going through teething for that!
Why is the parent moderated flamebait?
Do you mods realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why, there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, children's ice cream.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Wahoo! *waves cowboy hat*
I distill my drinking water, in part so I don't have to deal with the crap that someone else decides to put in it.
Of course, that doesn't cover everything. I still buy food from a grocery store rather than grow it all myself. And restaurants, too.
But distillation is something cheap and easy that at least purifies some of what I take in.
Not all cavities are 0.13mm or smaller. I'm not a dentist, but aren't most cavities larger than that?
Slashdot: Playing Favorites Since 1997
Have you seen British teeth in recent decades? Theirs are nicer than those of us who live in the US, now.
Maybe nicer, but only if can pay out of pocket, or you can find an NHS dentist...
Brexit may exasperate this probably as many dentist in the UK come from EU countries...
On the flip side, Brexit will bring a need for more dentists.
I think dentistry is a fine profession, something that is unlikely to be replaced by AI any time soon. Having a high-paying vocation that students can strive for seems like it would be a win for any Brits who have children.
Your view of Brexit, that all the dentists would flee the UK leaving no one to care for peoples' teeth, seems a bit unrealistic.
Sugars because they are bad for our teeth, and starches because they are converted to sugars by amylase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amylase.
FRA: STFU GTFO
Many reported that Dr Mao was successful in growing teeth back in 2010.
http://www.rexresearch.com/mao...
http://www.popsci.com/science/...
https://www.davidwolfe.com/ste...
http://www.dentistryiq.com/art...
Interesting, the original press release ( http://cumc.columbia.edu/news/... ) has been scrubbed from the university site.
thats a choice of a smart few to push your industries to copyrights and patents rather then goods and what not made.
you dont need ot add to say "HEY BOB ITS KELLY LETS GO KILL THE NEIGHBORS" - in death neighborss01e01
It is unethical to test on other animals. They could have tested it on a dead toot, then on human volunteers, if any.
How long before Trump says that? He has already spoken his mind on vaccination.
Tideglusib, miracle chemical. What can't it do! Puts the kids in order, brightens up the old folk and cures bad breathe!
Tideglusib [4-Benzyl-2-(naphthalen-1-yl)-1,2,4-thiadiazolidine-3,5-dione] is a potent, selective and irreversible small molecule non-ATP-competitive GSK-3 inhibitor that has been investigated as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease and paralysis supranuclear palsy.
Tideglusib has also been investigated as a way to cause teeth to repair themselves by promoting dentine reinforcement of a sponge structure until the sponge biodegrades, leaving just a solid dentine structure.
Also, Tideglusib is being tested in the possible treatment of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders.
[All cribbed from wikipedia]
I've also heard that salt might be iodized, and that milk might be pasteurized . Goiter and food poisoning were good enough for my grandparents, so many thanks for you Portlandians for bringing these back. Kids today are soft, I tell you, soft!
Do you know what fluoridation is? It's an insidious communist plot to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids. Fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face.
That is why I only drink distilled water and pure grain alcohol!
A severe toothache usually means the pulp is infected and dying. The nerves in there are dying also, and when the nerve is dead - a miracle! - no more pain. If you're reasonably healthy generally, the infected area might not expand further, until you are fairly old and your immune system weakens. Then the rot may progress into your jaw.
Severe toothache usually means permanent damage is being done. Don't ignore it; don't pretend that when it goes away everything is good again.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
We must maintain our purity of essence and preserve our precious bodily fluids!
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
whoosh (was below your head)
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
just like in the 16th century when Europe ruled the world.
As the poster guy said, the whoosh guy is riding to earth on the back of a nuke, waving his cowboy hat.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Government regulation on toxic water pollution resulted in industries having to PAY to dispose of toxic fluoride pollution which resulted in the push to put it into drinking water. Instead of paying to dispose of something that used to be free pollution (which harmed people and nature, hence the regulation) it was turned into a revenue stream.
Yes, fluoride helps teeth but you spit it out and do not absorb it throughout your body just to help your teeth. (Drinking water is used to wash/soak your body.)
Studies show fluoride in the water does not help teeth; differences between populations show other greater factors - here is the 1st link i found on the topic:
http://www.newsweek.com/fluori...