Damage to tooth enamel leads to the development of serious diseases such as tooth decay, which can result in expensive treatments or, in the worst case, tooth loss. Several years ago, experts from the University of Washington announced the creation of a fundamentally new method for restoring tooth enamel.
The new approach is to study the possibility of restoring abilities of the ameloblasts’ cells, which form enamel at an early stage in the life of a tooth. Scientists recently announced the first positive research results that allow using peptides to reactivate ameloblasts.
The life cycle of human teeth can be conditionally divided into two stages. The first, active stage occurs during the formation of the tooth inside the gum. During this time, ameloblast cells generate specific proteins that form the enamel. At the second stage, ameloblasts die off and stop secreting the protein responsible for the creation of enamel, which, meanwhile, begins to break down under the influence of various factors (mechanical, chemical), as well as because of the number of diseases.
The natural life cycle of a tooth does not provide for restoration of enamel. Attention to your teeth and careful oral hygiene will help you preserve the integrity of your tooth enamel. Meanwhile, scientists from the University of Washington tried to create an analogue of proteins generated by ameloblasts, and tried to re-start the process of enamel formation, imitating the “second youth” of the tooth.
The created artificial peptide has no harmful additives, and the effect of the new drug on the microflora of the oral cavity and teeth is minimized. The new product comes in the form of a paste and is simply applied to the teeth. A doctor’s prescription is not required to use the drug.
However, the new drug does not initiate the start of the process of generating proteins that form the enamel, but serves to create “a rather thick (10 microns) dense mineralized layer that resembles the structure of healthy enamel.”
According to the developers, peptide paste can be used as an additive to the traditional toothpaste. Scientists believe that studying the process of mineralization restoration with peptides will form the basis for future methods of complete restoration of human teeth.
