End of the filling? Experts find way to grow tooth enamel

FILLINGS could become a thing of the past – as British scientists have found a way to restore tooth enamel.

Enamel coats the outer part of our teeth and is the hardest tissue in the body.

But when it wears out it cannot regrow – until now.

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have developed a material which once applied to teeth, allows enamel to regrow.

The revolutionary material – which looks like a transparent, soft contact lens – is placed on the outside of the tooth that needs to be repaired. Once in place, the ‘ enamel’ regrows naturally – using minerals present in our saliva to create a smooth coating around the tooth.

The breakthrough, as well as being useful to repair cavities in teeth, could also prevent sensitive teeth caused by worn-out enamel. The material works because it has a grid-like structure.

Minerals in our calcium and phosphates, found in saliva, lodge in the gaps of the grid. These crys- tals form a tough new coating that has a similar strength to enamel. Lead author Professor Alvaro Mata said: ‘We have developed a very thin tissue which mineralises and integrates with the rest of the tooth. We have tried this with extracted teeth. #We have placed a layer of this material on the tooth. ‘We make a material, a protein matrix, that is very thin and looks like a contact lens. It is transparent and feels like a similar material. When you expose it to calcium and phosphate in saliva it triggers a very strong mineralisation. Crystals regrow on the tooth in a very organised manner. It is quite amazing.’

He said that eventually the hope is to get rid of fillings.

The team have proven the system can repair teeth in the laboratory – using extracted teeth in a solution similar to our saliva. They hope to carry out clinical trials on people within two or three years.

The study was published in Nature Communications. Around 62,500 people a year are admitted to hospital in England because of tooth decay – three quarters of them, or 46,400, children.

Remineralising teeth is one of many new methods of tooth repair proposed by scientists.

Other potential approaches include injecting stem cells into the gums to regrow teeth, using lasers to stimulate teeth to regrow, and new drug treatments that have been shown to promote tooth regrowth in rats. Enamel does not regrow in the body because the cells that help produce it die off after it is made.

In this respect it is unlike bone – which is constantly regrowing inside the body.

There are three main causes of tooth decay. One is poor toothbrushing – allowing plaque to build up and attack the enamel.

Another is plaque formation – caused when bacteria, acid, food particles and saliva combine in the mouth, and dry mouth.

Dry mouth can cause tooth decay because saliva washes away plaque from teeth.

The British Dental Association reports tooth decay is now the number one reason for hospit a l admissions among young children.

There has been a 10 per cent rise in children having teeth removed in hospital in the past four years, the association said.

Damien Walmsley, the British Dental Association’s scientific adviser, welcomed the study. He said: ‘It shows that potential improvements in dentistry go hand-in-hand with developments in materials science.’