Loss of the enamel layer that covers our teeth results in sensitive teeth and raised risk of cavities, pulp inflammation and other dental diseases. Now, scientists have produced a new biocompatible material that potentially rebuilds worn enamel, reduces tooth sensitivity and is much longer-lasting than current treatments.Chun-Pin Lin, a professor of dentistry at National Taiwan University, and colleagues report how they developed the new material, which they tested on dogs, in the journal ACS Nano.Tooth sensitivity due to loss of enamel is one of the most common dental problems. It not only causes sharp pain and anxiety, but it can herald more serious dental problems.Loss of tooth enamel exposes a layer of softer, porous material called dentine, which is full of thousands of tiny channels or tubules that go deep into the pulp of the tooth where the nerves lie. When dentine tubules are exposed, heat and cold pass more easily to the underlying nerves.Current treatments – such as special toothpastes incorporating sealants – work by blocking the tubules at the exposed dentine surface. But these seals do not last as they get worn away with chewing and brushing.New material generates a ‘biomimetic crystalline dentin barrier’.In their paper, Prof. Lin and his team describe how they made and tested a reliable, fast-acting biocompatible material containing the main elements found in teeth: calcium and phosphorous.Durable biomaterial potentially reduces tooth sensitivity
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Loss of the enamel layer that covers our teeth results in sensitive teeth and raised risk of cavities, pulp inflammation and other dental diseases. Now, scientists have produced a new biocompatible material that potentially rebuilds worn enamel, reduces tooth sensitivity and is much longer-lasting than current treatments.Chun-Pin Lin, a professor of dentistry at National Taiwan University, and colleagues report how they developed the new material, which they tested on dogs, in the journal ACS Nano.Tooth sensitivity due to loss of enamel is one of the most common dental problems. It not only causes sharp pain and anxiety, but it can herald more serious dental problems.Loss of tooth enamel exposes a layer of softer, porous material called dentine, which is full of thousands of tiny channels or tubules that go deep into the pulp of the tooth where the nerves lie. When dentine tubules are exposed, heat and cold pass more easily to the underlying nerves.Current treatments – such as special toothpastes incorporating sealants – work by blocking the tubules at the exposed dentine surface. But these seals do not last as they get worn away with chewing and brushing.New material generates a ‘biomimetic crystalline dentin barrier’.In their paper, Prof. Lin and his team describe how they made and tested a reliable, fast-acting biocompatible material containing the main elements found in teeth: calcium and phosphorous.
Roosevelt Patterson, DDS 