Fillings Becoming A Thing of The Past, 2008-04-06

A few years hence, one may not have to run to a dentist, the minute he gets a tooth cavity. The reason for that is that, scientists have discovered materials that can rebuild destroyed teeth. The rebuilding will not be by using fillings to fill the cavities, but will be the enamel and dentin. 

According to Sally Marshall, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco, the aim is to catch the process of tooth decay early and repair it with materials that are natural. Though the process of restoring ones toothless smile is still 10 years away, the use of natural materials to repair teeth damage will be a great advantage for dentists who have used fillings to do the same since 1840. While both the natural materials are strong and last long, dentin in particular has some complexities. 

While the teeth on the outside are covered by enamel, that has a ceramic like covering structure. Enamel is regenerated by the body at regular intervals. Under the Ceramic structure, one finds Dentin which is hard like clay. According to Van Thompson, dentistry professor and chairman of New York University's Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics, the minerals on the teeth can be eroded by acids and a small amount of erosion is generally repaired by the body. But a large amount of damage destroys the minerals in both the enamel and dentin, which makes eating problematic. In his latest article that will be published in the Journal of Structural Biology, Marshall has talked about regenerating Dentin in damaged teeth, using ions. He has successfully done this on a test tooth, by using an ion solution on the tooth’s surface.  

For the Dentin to regenerate, it should grow from the top to bottom of the tooth, which according to Marshall has not happened yet. Though she is confident that she will be able to achieve it in the next few years.

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