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'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

bbc.com

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Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#51

Post by jklehm »

cowsandmilk wrote: post #45

Does anyone have good resources on non-behavioral factors that affect health of teeth? Growing up, I never brushed and did pretty much everything a dentist advises against. I never have had a cavity. With seemingly no consequences, it was extremely hard for me to find any motivation to change my behavior. I've often wondered whether there was something genetic, and today I wonder if maybe I won some microbiome lotter…

You likely have a stronger immune response to the bacteria that cause cavities than most people do.

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#52

Post by brandon272 »

nsxwolf wrote: post #37
maxxxxx wrote: post #16

Let's hope there will be some real progress in dentistry. I am probably doing the field injustice but there doesn't seem to have happened much progress in the last decades compared to other areas of medicine. When something is wrong the usual response is to remove it, no healing. I personally hope that one day we will be able to regrow teeth. With all my crowns it's too late to repair cavities.

Dental implants are a pretty big breakthrough over the last couple of decades. Wether replacing individual teeth, or permanently anchoring dental bridges in place, it's gotten pretty darn close to the experience of having real teeth.

Dental implants are really cool, but they are also incredibly expensive.

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#53

Post by hackits »

user837387 wrote: post #44
hackits wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would of liked to been told `Nothing is going to come on the market` instead of `All this wonderful technology is going to solve any problems you're going to have`. The latter results in careless behavior, the former results more careful behavior. Personally as someone as a kid was going up out-back Australia who's parents and care giver didn't put fluoride tablets into the water because it caused the water to `tas…

Didn't you use toothpaste with fluoride? Or is that not enough?

Used toothpaste with fluoride. Though the fridge was constantly stoked with sugar, fruit juice, bread and bread toppings. Kid of ironic that my Mum is a dietitian who is mobility obese.

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#54

Post by biot »

rincebrain wrote: post #33
biot wrote: post #24

The dissolving sponge thing reminds me of a video I watched years ago. They took a fully functioning organ (from a donor) and dissolved the material so that the only part left was the collagen scaffolding. Effectively, it looked like a transparent organ. They then flowed the recipient's blood into the organ and the tissue regrew around the scaffolding, yielding a fully operable organ with zero chance of foreign tissu…

Is https://www.technologyreview.com/s/419358/old-livers-made-ne... what you mean?

Yeah that looks like it's the same research. Thanks!

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#55

Post by sytelus »

slimsag wrote: post #3

This is insanely cool, and I imagine there is no need for me to explain how useful this would be in comparison to the current dental approaches today. But is this technology ever going to be available to consumers? I remember reading about similar advancements almost three years ago and haven't heard anything related until now. Maybe I'm pessimistic, but I think we won't see this in practice for a Very Long Time™.

One way I filter my science news is to ignore all headlines that contains the word "may", "could be", etc. I don't recall in recent times seeing an actual product release corresponding to one of these headlines. Most of the time its just some research group doing some experiment in very narrow scope, working slowly towards 10 year horizon and doing some PR to renew the funding.

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#56

Post by vanattab »

sathackr wrote: post #41
poikniok wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fluoride decreases IQ significantly, be thankful that at least you are intelligent, albeit with bad teeth.

Source?

The practice of fluoride in drinking water does seem to be getting some push back of late. I did a quick google scholar search for "fluoride drinking water" and found some articles on both sides.

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#57

Post by therein »

cowsandmilk wrote: post #45

Does anyone have good resources on non-behavioral factors that affect health of teeth? Growing up, I never brushed and did pretty much everything a dentist advises against. I never have had a cavity. With seemingly no consequences, it was extremely hard for me to find any motivation to change my behavior. I've often wondered whether there was something genetic, and today I wonder if maybe I won some microbiome lotter…

Were you a natural birth or c-section?

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#58

Post by dghughes »

advertising wrote: post #26
brandon272 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually find these articles depressing because it seems like nothing like this ever ultimately comes to fruition. I'm guessing these "breakthroughs" have always been just around the corner. I recall having a conversation with my dentist almost 20 years ago about things that were up and coming that were about to make our lives a lot easier in terms of saving and strengthening and building tooth enamel but none of w…

I remember reading an article about these scientists experimenting with blue light and the larger capacity to store data. ~15 years later blu-ray came out. All hope is not lost.

I recall watching a man being interviewed in a swamp talking about finding some organisms there that had emit blue light. (?) years later we have OLED monitors.

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#59

Post by kalleboo »

hackits wrote: post #22
brandon272 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually find these articles depressing because it seems like nothing like this ever ultimately comes to fruition. I'm guessing these "breakthroughs" have always been just around the corner. I recall having a conversation with my dentist almost 20 years ago about things that were up and coming that were about to make our lives a lot easier in terms of saving and strengthening and building tooth enamel but none of w…

I would of liked to been told `Nothing is going to come on the market` instead of `All this wonderful technology is going to solve any problems you're going to have`. The latter results in careless behavior, the former results more careful behavior. Personally as someone as a kid was going up out-back Australia who's parents and care giver didn't put fluoride tablets into the water because it caused the water to `tas…

Most of Europe and Japan doesn't fluoridate their water and they don't have notably worse dental outcomes.

It really has to do with toothbrushing and diet. Water fluoridation is just a way to get to the people who refuse to brush their teeth.

Re: 'Tooth repair drug' may replace fillings

#60

Post by throwaway91111 »

user837387 wrote: post #44
hackits wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would of liked to been told `Nothing is going to come on the market` instead of `All this wonderful technology is going to solve any problems you're going to have`. The latter results in careless behavior, the former results more careful behavior. Personally as someone as a kid was going up out-back Australia who's parents and care giver didn't put fluoride tablets into the water because it caused the water to `tas…

Didn't you use toothpaste with fluoride? Or is that not enough?

Reasearch indicates that fluorided water is better at covering the surface area of your teeth--brushing with toothpaste mostly removes the layer of plaque and allows the active ingredient to work better.

It's actually phenomenal how little dental research has ever reached consumer behavior or dental care.

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