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Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

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Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#61
post #45

Years ago I switched to brushing with baking soda and salt, and my teeth have basically stopped degenerating. Bar soap is good too, for removing acid-producing bacteria, but I don't like the aftertaste of some soaps.

Be careful with baking soda. It is abrasive to emanel. Use sparingly and allow emanel to regenerate.

Straight baking soda is actually the least abrasive option on the lists. Here's a link: http://www.sheltondentistry.com/patient-information/toothpas...

If one is concerned about rubbing their teeth away, baking soda and salt will rapidly dissolve in the saliva.

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#62

We've "cured" cavities quite a few times via fighting the primary cavity causing bacteria S. Mutans with techniques ranging from phages, to a vaccine, to introducing a crippled version of the bacteria in a semi-sterilized mouth. Wondered what happened to all of those options?

[1] suggests that it's a combination of it being at least mildly hard, and there being insufficient fiscal incentive to develop it.

It seems several vendors have realized solutions in varying stages of human trials, without getting to the "commercial" stage (yet):

- "CaroRx" is entirely not mentioned on the owning company's products list [2]

- The list of authors on the antibiotic study from the Chinese Academy of Sciences don't seem to have published any other studies on this since the 2013 one [3]

- Oragenics seems to have just gotten a patent on a new form of their one-off replacement bacteria [4], but that's not nearly the same thing as human trial approval

- The US military's gum for mitigating issues with dental neglect that happen in combat seems to currently be attempting to get licensed to non-military vendors for civilian use. [5] [6]

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caries_vaccine

[2] - www.planetbiotechnology.com/products.html

[3] - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3708248/

[4] - http://www.oragenics.com/news-media/press-releases/detail/35...

[5] - http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/zero-dark-cavity

[6] - http://techlinkcenter.org/summaries/antimicrobial-peptide-an...

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#63
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And the bacteria eat sugar and produce acid. That whole site is a load of nonsense

Do you have good sources against his general claims? Should I try out bar soap? I'd really like to get to the bottom of this.

After I read your comment, it occurred to me to read about bacterial films. This is the Wikipedia article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm

If you don't mind spending a few dollars, flavored tooth soaps are carried by most natural food stores.

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#64
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me guess, (dead) donors?

Either that, or they can take a slice of your own patellar tendon and just graft that on where your ACL used to be.

There are other options inbound rapidly.

Osiris Therapeutics for example has something called Stravix, that they're targeting at tendon repair first. It'll be on the market in November -

"Stravix is a cryopreserved human placental tissue designed to address surgical needs for soft tissue repair"

"Stravix was developed as a pliable allograft cover with tensile strength that is ten times greater than amniotic membranes alone and designed to offer durability, elasticity, and conformability for surgical procedures. In addition, Stravix retains the properties inherent to the native fresh tissue as a result of Osiris’ proprietary cryopreservation process, BioSmart"

They have a bunch of products in the regeneration space. Cartiform for cartilage repair. Menvivo for meniscus repair. etc

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#65
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh? Dentistry is one of the few fields of medicine that seems to know exactly how to fix whatever is ailing you and can do so at a cost that can be reasonably borne out-of-pocket without the clowncar of the insurance industry showing up. I'd say that it's a huge success!

Last time I saw a dentist I needed 10k worth of work. My current plan involves a trip to Mexico or maybe just dying from blood poisoning.

That's a pretty rare and extreme example you're using though. 1% of dental patients need to or do spend more than $2,000 in a given year on dental work. The average person spends less than $500 per year out of pocket on total dental care.

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really should not feed chicken bones to a day. The fragments can be very sharp and cause medical problems. http://www.vetblog.net/2013/07/dog.swallowed.chicken.bone.pr... http://keepthetailwagging.com/dont-panic-when-a-dog-eats-a-c...

Chickens don’t have bones anymore - they grow so fast that there is not time for the bones to mineralise. My brother and I used to always break the wishbone with each other whenever we had a roast chicken when we were kids. I tried about a year ago to do this with my kids and it was impossible.

Every chicken I've ever cooked, including the one last night had bones. We're talking bones that take a lot of force to break.

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#67
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last time I saw a dentist I needed 10k worth of work. My current plan involves a trip to Mexico or maybe just dying from blood poisoning.

Several acquaintances of mine living in first world countries resort to going back to their 3rd world countries of origin when serious dental work is needed. So much that it has become a trend and a very common piece of advice. If this is not a sign of the health care system failing, I do not know what is.

I have been looking for a good dental vacation, any advice?

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#68
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh? Dentistry is one of the few fields of medicine that seems to know exactly how to fix whatever is ailing you and can do so at a cost that can be reasonably borne out-of-pocket without the clowncar of the insurance industry showing up. I'd say that it's a huge success!

Last time I saw a dentist I needed 10k worth of work. My current plan involves a trip to Mexico or maybe just dying from blood poisoning.

I had a $12k quote in California, $9k in rural southern Illinois...and I ended up going to Costa Rica and getting it done at a fantastic office (clean, modern, upscale, English-speaking, and very friendly) for just a bit over $3k. I got in on Saturday, did a city tour on Sunday, dental work Monday/Tuesday, rainforest excursion Wednesday, final dental work and adjustments Thursday/Friday, flew home on Saturday. Hotel + airfare + food + tours came out to about $1200-1300, and the dental office drove me to and from the airport and all dental appointments.

Perhaps the best and most unexpected thing about it was that the dentist only worked on my teeth during each appointment - none of the patient-hopping my dentists here in the US always did.

Best decision I've made in a while.

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#69
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me guess, (dead) donors?

Either that, or they can take a slice of your own patellar tendon and just graft that on where your ACL used to be.

Just went through the latter. Would have been so much nicer if there was a way to just regrow it. The attendant swelling in the knee causes the quad to shut down, and atrophy before you get to reactivating it, which precipitates a year-long process of physical therapy before you've got a full stable and strong leg again.

Re: Researchers use light to coax stem cells to repair teeth (2014)

#70
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chickens don’t have bones anymore - they grow so fast that there is not time for the bones to mineralise. My brother and I used to always break the wishbone with each other whenever we had a roast chicken when we were kids. I tried about a year ago to do this with my kids and it was impossible.

Every chicken I've ever cooked, including the one last night had bones. We're talking bones that take a lot of force to break.

They have pseudo-bones (basically just cartilage with minor mineralisation). These “bones” are nothing like they were like 40 years ago. This cartilage is of course tough, but try cracking a wishbone of a modern meat chicken - it just bends rather than snaps.

Interestingly the growth rate of modern meat chickens is limited to bone mineralisation rate. If you breed a chicken with faster growth rates (which you can do) they end up with broken legs as the bone can’t support the weight of the bird [1].

1. http://japr.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/1/138.full.pdf

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