A friend I know hopes this can be available to everyone soon. He's suffered from cavities for most of his life, and its shocking he hasn't had to have a tooth pulled.
While he isn't the best on dental hygiene I know he tries....but his medication and genetics kinda skew any efforts he makes. He jokes that he'd be lucky to have teeth by 50 still left, and in his case I feel bad for him because he does all he really can yet still has cavities and needs fillings regularly.
I am in my mid 30s now and unfortunately due to genetics on my mother's side (diabetes and high blood pressure) and with tartar/plaque buildup accelerated the process and now I have periodontitis where the bone the teeth is lost (the left upper side from the 3rd molar to the 2nd bicuspid).
I still have my teeth, but not for long (probably not to even my 40s). While teeth cleaning and tartar removal every few weeks helps slowing this process, its not going to stop it.
I pray that this breakthrough happens (even though it will probably take 5 to 10 years until we have something viable that we can pay for).
There are better toothpastes out there that use more than fluoride. Sensodyne with Novamin is one (but you need to import it), along with many that have hydroxyapatite. The latter often don’t have fluoride but there are some with both.
I was surprised a few month ago that one of the toothpastes I tried has sorbitol in it and wondered if that is contributing to my cavities.
Googling this seems as hard as finding good dietary info that's not diet propaganda. This dentist says sorbitol may enable tooth decaying bacteria and only xylitol is ok https://michaelsinkindds.com/sugar-substitutes-can-cause-too... but other sources say sorbitol is fine. The one thing all seem to agree on is that sorbitol is better than sugar but why is it so hard to find a toothpaste that has no sweetener in it... and that doesn't taste of mint, which is the only alternative.
I'm told I have good genes / strong teeth and I brush after every meal but somehow every year my cavities add up to my entire dental insurance budget plus a crown I never get around to fund, regardless which dentist I go to.
So yes, bring on the tooth regrowing drug! I'll give that a try.
Your friend should take a look at Lumina. It's a treatment to inoculate yourself with a strain of s.mutans that does not produce lactic acid and will remain dominant against other strains. Depending on the root cause of his cavities, it is possible that it would completely eliminate them.
The mutation occurs naturally; if you have heard of entire families who do not get cavities or children 'growing out' of getting cavities, my understanding is that it is usually correlated with the natural spread of this variant of s.mutans.
> Lumina is a genetically engineered version of the Streptococcus mutans bacterium that lives in the mouth, and it is supposed to prevent you from developing dental caries because it does not produce acid
- It has been poorly studied for safety and effectiveness
- Streptococcus mutans is actually neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of dental caries; the disease actually comes about because of a shift in the equilibrium of bacteria in the mouth which encourages the demineralization of our teeth
Well either way, it exists, and the FDA is apparently going to say it's not harmful. I'm in the "nobody in my entire extended family has ever had a single cavity" club, so no dog in the race for me other than my strong suspicion that the line of reasoning behind managing the risk of cavities by managing the microbiome in the mouth is the right approach.
Is there a good way to order genetic sequencing of s.mutans from my own mouth? Have we gotten to the point where a lab test like this is inexpensive enough to be done for the sake of curiosity?
He should test the PH of his morning urine. Excess acidity, as in a low PH buffer is what drives tooth decay. If he can improve is diet with ph raising fruits and vegetables he may slow the process down for these new technologies to mature.
Another tip is diy mouthwash. Take poultry seasoning and steep it like tea and strain after 20 minutes. Put itvin a glass bottle, keep it in the fridge and let a serving warm up before tooth brush time in the evening. It really can lower plaque. First tip from a holstic dentist, second is mine.
I had lots of cavities despite impeccable tooth hygiene. Turned out I had an evil roided up tooth munching bacterial culture in my mouth. It was cured with chlorine treatment. One damn month where EVERYTHING tasted like swimming pool. After that I've had no cavities.
If it can boost density in existing teeth, even that's a big deal. Probably more valuable than regrowing.
I am a 49-year-old and (apart from the four teeth removed in my teens so that orthodontics could straighten and resolve overcrowding) at the moment I have all my teeth, wisdom teeth included.
(It looks like one wisdom tooth might not be long for this mouth, but I digress)
But once you get to this age, the density of your teeth begins to matter.
What would be really great is a treatment that would regrow gums in a meaningful, controlled way that supported reattachment; some of my gums are receding for reasons that are developmental, and some is less than ideal self-care, but much of it is just plain being a man over 40.
There are some medications that cause gum overgrowth as a side effect, but not usefully.
That would be a massive quality of life improvement for me. I've had a lot of issues with my teeth and while being in my thirties I currently need at least 4 implants to get close to a properly functioning dentition. And that still leaves a lot of empty space in the back that makes my speech inherently more slurred.
The USAG-1 protein has a high amino acid homology of 97% between different animal species, including humans, mice, and beagles.
I have 0 knowledge in this area, just curious, but are beagles specifically close to human physiology for the purposes of testing this treatment? I would’ve thought any dog breed is going to be like any other dog breed.
They had to find a breed that is, on average, as intelligent as an average human. Animal model optimality, and all that. Border collies were too smart so they had to use beagles.
That’s part of it. The other reason is that it’s really easy to pry Beagles away from their owners. Or put differently, it’s the reason you just can’t get enough Labradors.
With the right really difficult to get right knowledge and intervention vectors, biological organisms can be hacked all you want. To me, it’s not a question of “if” but of “how expensive”, “when” and “maybe making a silicon-based sucesor species to Homo Sapiens is the madness we settle for.”
The article suggests it does boost bone density in existing teeth so I think the question I'd want to see answered is why doesn't it have an effect on osteoporotic bone?
This would be amazing. I've got one tooth missing and the prospect that maybe in a decade or so I could grow it back? Wow.
Really hope this trial works out. Of all the things I thought we'd be trialling regrowth of first, I would never have guessed teeth. But actually I never thought anything like this would happen in my lifetime.
It seems every 10 years there is a promising development along these lines in dentistry. Examples include a cavity vaccine, various coatings, and tooth-growing drugs like this one. Yet, nothing ever comes to fruition. Dentistry is nearly exactly the same as it was 30 or 40 years ago, and the only variable in our hands to fight cavities is time spent brushing. It is astonishing how little dentistry has changed and how few new treatments are available.
While he isn't the best on dental hygiene I know he tries....but his medication and genetics kinda skew any efforts he makes. He jokes that he'd be lucky to have teeth by 50 still left, and in his case I feel bad for him because he does all he really can yet still has cavities and needs fillings regularly.