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Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

dental.washington.edu

211–220 of 364 posts

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#211
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although I haven't personally tried it, I have friends outside of the US that rave about Sensodyne Repair & Protect original with the "Powered by NovaMin" badging. NovaMin is composed of special ceramic particles that coat the teeth with a compound that reacts with the saliva to form a durable physical barrier. The problem is that the stuff with NovaMin is not typically available in the US. I just searched Amazon and…

As of a few years ago there's a similar FDA approved ingredient available in the US as BioMin. It works well for me and is cheaper than importing NovaMin.

Biomin also claims that their particles are smaller and therefore more effective at mineralization than Novamin.

Another option for leveling up on toothpaste is using those that contain micronized hydroxyapatite. Options here are Carifree or the Japanese brand Apagard available on eBay or Amazon. Biomin’s formula is proprietary but it might contain hydroxyapatite in part.

I stopped randomly getting cavities after using xylitol gum occasionally and brushing with these various toothpastes, n=1.

There also exist a variety of oral probiotics that claim to rebalance mouth flora away from species that cause cavities.

While no dentist ever told me about any of these options, at least Carifree is starting to market through US dentists.

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're an academic researcher, you probably don't care as much about the ownership of IP when compared to a potential to see your work get used and to build a reputation as a competent person in your field. Also, the work wouldn't necessarily exist without the funding.

Well, we are talking about a possibly multi-million dollar product here. If Amazon were a bit less predatory perhaps keep 99% of the IP?

What is a reasonable survivorship bias rate? If Amazon invested at a point when this was <1% likelihood of making it to market In a commercially successful venture, then their initial investment would work out to be charity for society.

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#213
post #165

> The idea for the lozenge design originated with Deniz Yucesoy, a graduate student in the UW’s Genetically Engineered Materials Science and Engineering Center who received a $100,000 Amazon Catalyst grant This grad-student/researcher just handed over a multi-million dollar business to Amazon in exchange for $100k towards the research. Why on Earth would anyone sign over 100% ownership of their idea, just to be able…

If you're an academic researcher, you probably don't care as much about the ownership of IP when compared to a potential to see your work get used and to build a reputation as a competent person in your field. Also, the work wouldn't necessarily exist without the funding.

This is, indeed, often the point of commercial partnerships for universities - getting what you want to see out into the world.

I don't remember the licensing terms for Catalyst specifically, but they are fairly aggressive, as far as these things go, to my recollection.

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#214
post #61
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think about this fairly often. When getting a root canal (it doesn’t hurt!) it’s sort of odd to see in this day and age the tools they use.

I used to work with a few orthopedic surgeons over a couple years and discovered a lot of the tools used during surgery for bones or hard materials in the body really aren't all that different than what you'd find at a hardware store. Usually tools are a bit more precise, materials are a bit more stringently regulated, and everything is typically well sterilized but when it comes to the physical mechanics, they're ab…

Weirdly, knowing this has helped me. My mind can imagine all kinds of horrific things happening with the sound and feeling of dental tools, so it's rather reassuring to be "Oh, yeah, that's what a glorified Dremel would sound like."

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pourover is more like espresso too. Almost the same mechanism, but espresso also uses pressure. And even though snobs will disagree, french press will be closer in flavor but “muddier”. Drip is pretty much the worst because it starts reheating your already perfectly good coffee before it’s even done. Welcome to the snobbery! I went from “I refuse to order a coffee with more than two words” to super opinionated and pi…

This is all almost totally incorrect. French press "muddiness" is not invariant but rather a function of filter size and type. It's the equivalent of steak doneness, use the appropriate equipment for the result you want. Espresso is fundamentally different than pour-over. Pour-over is only using atmospheric pressure and espresso is about only not using atmospheric pressure. Pour-over is closer to drip than espresso.…

> French press "muddiness" is not invariant but rather a function of filter size and type. It's the equivalent of steak doneness, use the appropriate equipment for the result you want.

I don’t think this contradicts anything I said.

> Espresso is fundamentally different than pour-over. Pour-over is only using atmospheric pressure and espresso is about only not using atmospheric pressure.

To clarify, I meant that the distinction is that the water flows through the coffee in drip/pour over by gravity (as you said, atmospheric pressure) but with espresso it flows through with applied pressure.

> Pour-over is closer to drip than espresso.

> Drip coffee is actually just pour-over coffee made with a machine, and using a warming burner is not required.

This is pretty much what I was saying, with the distinction being that most people making drip do have a burner and that’s what makes their coffee taste worse.

> How good your coffee is depends not at all on the method used, and anyone telling you it does is just encoding their preference.

This is my first major point of disagreement besides how you chose to interpret things. For most people, the method their coffee is made makes a difference because people have shit to do, even baristas making it for them. A half assed French press will taste dramatically different than a half assed Mr Coffee will taste dramatically different than a push button espresso machine.

> Goodness of coffee is a combination of acidity, sweetness, bitterness, ratio of water to non-water compounds, time spent, and enjoyment of the experimentation. This combination is achieved by varying grind size, water temperature, bean roast, contact time, and experimenter time.

And even then, it’s a matter of preference, and might vary on occasion. And even then, you might encounter someone telling you your particular taste is wrong even if it delights you. Such as when I had the displeasure of ordering my absolute favorite latte I’ve ever had—I ordered a delicious natural process, the barista insisted I change my order twice and complained the whole time he was making it because the milk would ruin it, but I loved it.

I’m not trying to be a jerk, but there’s a reason people find coffee snobs insufferable.

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is all almost totally incorrect. French press "muddiness" is not invariant but rather a function of filter size and type. It's the equivalent of steak doneness, use the appropriate equipment for the result you want. Espresso is fundamentally different than pour-over. Pour-over is only using atmospheric pressure and espresso is about only not using atmospheric pressure. Pour-over is closer to drip than espresso.…

> French press "muddiness" is not invariant but rather a function of filter size and type. It's the equivalent of steak doneness, use the appropriate equipment for the result you want. I don’t think this contradicts anything I said. > Espresso is fundamentally different than pour-over. Pour-over is only using atmospheric pressure and espresso is about only not using atmospheric pressure. To clarify, I meant that the…

Oh also, I’ve had people insist I’m wrong to prefer homogenized milk, or whole milk over cream, or milk at all, depending on the particular varietal, origin, roast, grind, temperature.

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the vast majority of people who experience hair loss, it’s... normal and expected, maybe somewhat romantically limiting. Poor dental health can be poor health overall. Traveling to Eastern Europe to spend $10k for something I actually need is not an option for me. Yeah I can close my mouth. And suffer. And let it keep rotting, crossing my fingers that related health impacts don’t get to me before I can pay a car’…

> normal and expected That sounds like wishful thinking, if it were true there wouldn't be a giant market in covering up hair loss.

That sounds like the market for reversing widespread adult male hair loss is where the wishful thinking is.

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to mention this too, as well as some of the other warnings. I’ll also add that while it’s extraordinarily effective, 1. It can be counterproductive if you’re experiencing acid reflux, particularly if you’re laying down. The acid neutralization produces a lot of gas (you’ll burp a lot), which can flush acid up your esophagus before it can be neutralized. It’s awful and packaging that discusses its antacid…

> The more you regulate your internal acidity, the more your body will try to find balance... You seem to be full of bad unsubstantiated health advice, for some reason. This is, of course, not true.

Yes, you’re right, my comments about coffee were obviously health advice and I definitely appreciate you becoming my fact check stalker. Go on.

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah it took me decades to learn that the pain of getting a cavity filled isn't normal. I thought the freezing helped and that the ice pick jab causing lightning of pain down my spine was what everyone suffered. A dentist finally slowed down. Noticed my tears. Asked. Had a conversation. Tried freezing me in other places. Worked perfectly. She guessed that my nerves are anatomically weird.

I was very surprised when I went to a dentist in Europe to fill a cavity: they don’t freeze anything by default unless you really want. I thought I’d try without anesthesia and it turned out surprisingly bearable. Plus I didn’t have half my face frozen for half a day.

As a european who got dental care in two countries: I never heard of freezing at the dentist! What do they freeze exactly? How does it relate to anestesia?

Medical care seems to have a lot of weird country-specific traditions, e.g. in Hungary it's apparently common to fill small kids' healthy teeth if the groves are too deep so they're simpler to clean and they don't get cavities.

I had never heard of such a thing before moving here, and I genuinely can't tell if it's a brilliant innovation or an insane post-soviet tradition that needs to go away.

Re: Trials begin on lozenge that rebuilds tooth enamel

#220
post #31

> In addition, the researchers are investigating a gel or solution with the engineered peptide to treat hypersensitive teeth. This problem results from weakness in the enamel that makes the underlying dentin and nerves more vulnerable to heat or cold. Most common products currently on the market can put a layer of organic material on the tooth and numb nerve endings with potassium nitrate, but the relief is only temp…

This "biting hurts" sounds little ominous. Have they X-rayed your roots? I had recently two root canals and the doctor told they have been infected for half a century, but healed on their own. The reason they were infected was I a stopped chewing Xylitol-gum. And the reason I stopped chewing was I my teeth started cracking because of old age. Root canals are not big thing nowadays, painless and fast.
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