Enamel protects teeth from damage, but is easily degraded agrobacter/Getty Images
A gel uses chemicals found in saliva to repair and regenerate tooth enamel, which could prevent people from developing cavities that require fillings.
Enamel 鈥 the hard, shiny layer on the surface of teeth 鈥 shields the sensitive inner layers from wear and tear, acids and bacteria. 鈥淓namel is the first line of defence. Once that line of defence starts to break down, tooth decay becomes accelerated,鈥 says at the University of Nottingham, UK. Enamel doesn鈥檛 naturally regenerate, and treatments such as fluoride varnishes and remineralisation solutions only prevent the situation from worsening.
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Looking for a solution, Mata and his colleagues have developed a gel containing a modified version of a protein that they manipulated to act like amelogenin,聽a protein that helps guide the growth of our enamel when we are infants.
Experiments that involved pasting the gel onto human teeth under a microscope in solutions containing calcium and phosphate 鈥 the primary building blocks of enamel 鈥 show that it creates a thin and robust layer that stays on teeth for a few weeks, even during brushing.
The gel fills holes and cracks, creating a scaffold that uses the calcium and phosphate to promote the organised growth of new crystals in the enamel below the gel layer, even when so much was gone that the underlying dentine below was exposed.
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鈥淭he gel was able to grow crystals epitaxially, which means it’s in the same crystallographic orientation as existing enamel,鈥 says Mata.
That orientation means that the new growth 鈥 which reached up to 10 micrometres thick 鈥 is integrated into the underlying natural tissue, rebuilding the structure and properties of enamel. 鈥淭he growth actually happens within a week,鈥 says Mata. The process also worked when using donated saliva, which also naturally contains calcium and phosphate, rather than just in the solution the team used that comprised these chemicals.
Electron microscopy images of a tooth with demineralised enamel showing eroded crystals (left) and a similar demineralised tooth after two weeks of treatment with the gel, showing epitaxially regenerated enamel crystals (right) Professor Alvaro Mata, University of Nottingham
A similar approach was reported in 2019, but that produced thinner coatings, and the recovery of the architecture of inner layers of enamel was only partial.
Clinical trials in people are set for early next year. Mata has also launched a company called Mintech-Bio and hopes to have a first product out towards the end of 2026, which he sees dentists using.
Journal reference:
Nature Communications
