181–190 of 224 posts
these are lumps of magnetite. they have no autonomous element, no programming, no decision logic, no ALU, no FPGA, no WiFi, no data, no analogue computer, nothing.
Its not smart dust: its dumb dust and a rotating magnet. Its not a bot.
ProTip: I went from rarely flossing to basically every day with "this one weird trick": I now floss my teeth in the shower. I like staying in the shower a little longer, so the 2 minutes went from chore to luxury. And the amount of food I remove on a daily basis is astonishing!
Also, I tie my floss into a big loop. I can tension it with my whole hand while still using individual fingers to get it where I need it.
Takes practice to get a quick easy knot that doesn't slip, but now it is like tying shoelaces - automatic and quick.
I honestly think "floss loops" is the next "sliced bread".
This is very interesting and has a lot of potential, especially for people who struggle to brush their teeth, but I think there's another future where brushing and flossing largely become obsolete. If we could develop a more effective mouthwash tailored to restoring each persons oral microbiome we could likely reduce the need for brushing and flossing and instead replace it with a daily mouth rinse that clears out fo…
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Biofilms are an evolutionary advantage for the bacteria, not the host. Biofilms make the colony much, much harder to kill. How advantageous can it be to the host anyways, if 4 out of 5 dentists recommends obliterating it 2-3x a day?
This is trying to replace the bacteria population not the host. It’s like trying to stop drug use by busting drug dealers. As long as the niche exists a city can’t stop and say we caught all the bad guys problem is solved.
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Biofilms are an evolutionary advantage for the bacteria, not the host. Biofilms make the colony much, much harder to kill. How advantageous can it be to the host anyways, if 4 out of 5 dentists recommends obliterating it 2-3x a day?
They may indirectly be an advantage for the host because if the bacteria aren't competitive they will get replaced by bacteria that are. The devil you know...
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Some people rarely brush their teeth and never get cavities. Some people brush thrice daily and floss and still get cavities and need root canals. The working theory is we could all be in the first group with the right bacteria in our mouth.
Could it also be about the level of salivation in general, since saliva also helps kill some bacteria and keep the mouth cleaner (relatively)?
I'm looking forward to the day when we have bio-engineered slugs that feed off the left over food in our mouths while we sleep. If their trails can strengthen enamel all the better!
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This sponge you put in your mouth made me think for the first time about how much bacteria is potentially on a normal toothbrush. I'm betting this product is even less hygienic since it's a sponge instead of only bristles.
Why not leave your toothbrush in hydrogen peroxide overnight?
This is really neat. But I remain skeptical > In both instances, a catalytic reaction drives the nanoparticles to produce antimicrobials that kill harmful oral bacteria on site. So, what happens if I swallow this stuff that I'm putting in my mouth?
Also, your cells are more robust to external reactive oxygen than bacteria.
The catalysis occurs when hydrogen peroxide is "activated" by the magnetite to produce singlet oxygen, which then goes on to damage biofilms and bacterial walls. Your epithelial cells are basically expendable.
Internal ROS isn't good, but that isn't the case here.