Thursday, August 25, 2011

Say goodbye to cavities: New gel could help your teeth fix themselves (BLOG)

Being told you have a cavity is one of the most cringe-worthy bits of information that could ever grace your ears. Going under the dentist's drill to have a pearly white repaired is expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes painful, but that may soon change thanks to researchers at the University of Leeds' School of Chemistry. A high-tech fluid is being developed there that could help your teeth repair themselves before they ever become a problem.

When the liquid comes into contact with a decaying tooth, it penetrates the microscopic pores on the tooth's surface and forms a gel. This gel acts like a calcium magnet, drawing precious minerals into the offending tooth and repairing it from the inside out. Early testing at the University suggests that the new technology has a bright future, and the advanced liquid appears to be doing just what it was designed to do.

Professor Jennifer Kirkham of the Leeds Dental Institute is understandably excited, stating, "This may sound too good to be true, but we are essentially helping acid-damaged teeth to regenerate themselves. It is a totally natural non-surgical repair process and is entirely pain-free too." Indeed, it does sound too good to be true, but if the magical tooth-regenerating serum ends up gracing your local dentist, it just might take the sting out of your next visit.

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