Scientists discover dentists’ holy grail – how to regrow tooth enamel

 Dentists have hailed a breakthrough which has seen British scientists work out a way of regrowing tooth enamel.

Queen Mary University of London has developed a new way to generate mineralised materials that could regenerate hard tissues such as dental enamel and bone.

Enamel coats the outer part of our teeth and is the hardest tissue in the body, yet unlike other tissues of the body, enamel cannot regenerate once it is lost.

This can lead to toothache and tooth loss which affects half of the world’s population. Finding a way to preserve or restore enamel has been the Holy Grail of dentistry.

Damien Walmsley, the British Dental Association’s scientific adviser, said he was excited by the study, which was published in Nature Communications, adding: “We look forward to seeing how effective these materials could be in preventing and treating tooth decay.”

Dr Sherif Elsharkawy, the lead author, said: “The simplicity and versatility of the mineralisation platform opens up opportunities to treat and regenerate dental tissues.

“For example, we could develop acid resistant bandages that can infiltrate, mineralise, and shield exposed dentinal tubules of human teeth for the treatment of dentin hypersensitivity.”