People often put off routine dental checkups for years or even decades due to the fear of the dentist’s chair.
But what if your damaged teeth could heal themselves?
Scientists from the University of Nottingham and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University have developed revolutionary regenerative dental fillings that will allow teeth to heal themselves without the pain of the drill.
Eliminate the need to visit the dentist for root canals that can often be quite painful
The procedure has been described as a “new paradigm for dental treatments,” far ahead of the existing methods that involve drilling and putting in a filling to treat cavities. Often these fillings fail, and that leads to the need for root canal treatments.
The filling is made from synthetic biomaterial, which allows the tooth to heal itself
Just like regular fillings, the biomaterial is injected into the tooth. The tooth filling works by using stem cells to stimulate the growth of dentin, the bony material under the white enamel, to replace the affected area.
Adam Celiz, research fellow at the University of Nottingham, explains:
“Existing dental fillings are toxic to cells and are therefore incompatible with pulp tissue inside the tooth. We have designed synthetic biomaterials that can be used similarly to dental fillings but can be placed in direct contact with pulp tissue to stimulate the native stem cell population for repair and regeneration of pulp tissue and the surrounding dentin.”
Reversing cavities naturally will bring relief to millions of dental patients. This treatment won a prize in The Royal Society of Chemistry’s emerging technologies competition.
