Is it a myth?

[ysk1]

I heard that there is a medicine/chemical that, once absorbed into your teeth, will protect it from decaying and you'll never have to brush your teeth again. But dental society is trying hard to prevent this new chemical from being known to the public because if it gets commercialized then everyone will start having perfect teeth and no one will have to visit dentists, causing their career to end.
A current dental student told me about this. I wonder if this is true.

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[doc3232]

I heard that there is a medicine/chemical that, once absorbed into your teeth, will protect it from decaying and you'll never have to brush your teeth again. But dental society is trying hard to prevent this new chemical from being known to the public because if it gets commercialized then everyone will start having perfect teeth and no one will have to visit dentists, causing their career to end.
A current dental student told me about this. I wonder if this is true.

Don't even joke about that unless that substance costs millions and must be applied every 2 hours.
Thanks

 

[eldirty]

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n8_v19/ai_20979812

 

[doc3232]

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n8_v19/ai_20979812

It seems it didn't work considering it has been 10 years and it is not in mass production.

 

[Pat Kelly]

Even if there is such a thing as "cavity vaccine", there are still a huge need for dentistry. It's one thing when you don't have decays, but there are a lot of other conditions such as gingivitis or malocclusion that requires attention. Besides, if you don't have to brush every day because you won't get decays, think about the client's oral health state that leads to a variety of problems such as bad odor or lose of attachment to periodontal bones.

 

[doc toothache]

I heard that there is a medicine/chemical that, once absorbed into your teeth, will protect it from decaying and you'll never have to brush your teeth again. But dental society is trying hard to prevent this new chemical from being known to the public because if it gets commercialized then everyone will start having perfect teeth and no one will have to visit dentists, causing their career to end.
A current dental student told me about this. I wonder if this is true.

Looks like chapter two of the conspiracy theories relating to dentistry. Would that chemical come under the name fluoride?? If not, since the ADA has apparently been successful in preventing public access to this miracle chemical, maybe we need to slip into Mexico or Canada. Surely we could find it there.

 

[113466]

edit

 

[MnBr63]

in the 1940s weren't people saying that dentists would lose their jobs once water was flouridated?

 

[Jake8]

Streptococcus Mutans study at the University of Florida

Basically an engineered bacteria replaces the normal plaque causing bacteria in the mouth. It out competes for resources but don't derive its nutrients from the teeth.

 

[Pat Kelly]

Streptococcus Mutans study at the University of Florida

Basically an engineered bacteria replaces the normal plaque causing bacteria in the mouth. It out competes for resources but don't derive its nutrients from the teeth.

I have done some Strep mutans research before since I used to work in an oral microbiology lab that tests client's saliva for S. mutans and lactobacillus species. Unless that engineered bacteria doesn't produce a lot of lactic acid, then I would say it's still a long way off of actually providing a "cure". Besides, any time you introduce a foreign substance to an existing ecosystem, there are consequences that you won't be able to predict without substantial testing.

 

[54807]

Streptococcus Mutans study at the University of Florida

Basically an engineered bacteria replaces the normal plaque causing bacteria in the mouth. It out competes for resources but don't derive its nutrients from the teeth.

Once again pacific has failed me. They have been telling me that these organisms derive their nutrients from lolly pops and sour patch kids. Now you come on here telling me they actually eat my the teeth.....pacific is sooooooo bad.

I don't think it's what they eat that is of concern.....but more their metabolic byproducts. If you 'displaced' the sugar eaters with your UFl organisms, there is still the suger-eaters nitch and the sugar eaters will still thrive.

You need sugar eaters that don't produce the acid. Also.....goodluck getting people to willingly place bacteria in their mouth. People flip out about FLUORIDE.....they will go nuts about an organism.

 

[UCSF2012]

Has no one here ever done microbiology research? How would anyone prevent the tooth coming into contact with NEW bacteria on the surfaces of the tooth? You can't?

These so-called vaccines would be injected into the blood. The antibody would have to travel from the blood, into the pulp circulation, and leech from the pulp blood vessels to the outer surface of the tooth. Can antibodies diffuse that far, thru enamel and all?

And those journalists who wrote those articles made the biggest mistake in journalism. Not knowing your audience. The article written for a business journal was written for scientists with a strong biology background, using dense jargon. No such journalists could sustain himself. In other words, he's not really journalist. He's a bio student making a prank.

 

[lemoncurry]

I have done some Strep mutans research before since I used to work in an oral microbiology lab that tests client's saliva for S. mutans and lactobacillus species. Unless that engineered bacteria doesn't produce a lot of lactic acid, then I would say it's still a long way off of actually providing a "cure". Besides, any time you introduce a foreign substance to an existing ecosystem, there are consequences that you won't be able to predict without substantial testing.

That's basically what the article said.

I have heard of studies that suggest that exposure to S. mutans needs to happen relatively early in life before the other bacteria are able to colonize and set up their biofilm in the mouth. One characteristic of biofilms is that due to their structure, it may be difficult for a new species to gain a foothold if there is a well established biofilm already. So, basically, this suggests that people who never seem to get cavities were not exposed to S. mutans early enough and now it can't "set up shop" because of the other bugs that are there.

I'm doing research right now in a microbiology lab that focuses on biofilms. LLU has a research requirement in their curriculum, so this will be good experience. I definitely want to look more into the biofilm structure of S. mutans and see how these proposed treatments relate to that.

 

[Jake8]

Well what I have heard about it has only been through passing in the research halls so my knowledge on the subject is limited but I do know they have begun limited clinical trials but the main concern is it spreading to unwilling participants through kissing. I will ask more when I get to visit that lab again.


I think SaxyDucky is onto what I was trying to say earlier in that there is less lactic acid byproduct of the introduced bacteria.


Now back to studying for the DAT (looks like I need to study my oral flora a little more )

 

[zabolekar]

Ah, stressed out pre-dents looking for things to worry about. If there is a conspiracy, then why would UCLA Dental research this--(latest attempt at anti-cavity)
http://www.tfot.info/pod/1102/cavity-fighting-herbal-lollipop.html
Also, why arent other countries (where ADA is not a factor) using this "chemical." Cavities will continue to DECREASE in the future, but will always be present. That is why we need to limit the production of new dentist to a reasonable value, one proportional to the needs of society yet profitable to the practitioners who worked so hard to become what they are.

 

[armorshell]

These so-called vaccines would be injected into the blood. The antibody would have to travel from the blood, into the pulp circulation, and leech from the pulp blood vessels to the outer surface of the tooth. Can antibodies diffuse that far, thru enamel and all?

I'm fairly sure the goal of most of these antibodies would be to get generation of secretory IgA targetted against whatever antigen they're going for from the salivary glands as opposed to filtration through the actual tooth. Maybe you meant filtration from the blood supply to the PDL?

 

[Resonance]

I heard that there is a medicine/chemical that, once absorbed into your teeth, will protect it from decaying and you'll never have to brush your teeth again. But dental society is trying hard to prevent this new chemical from being known to the public because if it gets commercialized then everyone will start having perfect teeth and no one will have to visit dentists, causing their career to end.
A current dental student told me about this. I wonder if this is true.

It is important to remember that caries are an infectious disease resulting from a more than just one species of bacteria. The problem with the vaccine is that it would have to catch all of the many culprits, while S. mutans is the major player there are a whole host of bacteria known and unknown such as lactobacilli, bifidobacteria, and other non-mutans low pH streps play apart in the course of the disease.

Check the article:
Aas JA, Griffen AL, Dardis SR, Lee AM, Olsen I, Dewhirst FE, Leys EJ, Paster BJ. Bacteria of Dental Caries in Primary and Permanent Teeth in Children and Young Adults. J Clin Microbiol 2008 Jan 23; 46(4): 1407 -17.

 

[qwerty86]

Sounds totally possible - coating your teeth with this clear substance. So its like having an invisible crown for every single teeth. Even if re-coating is required every year, its still worth it for most people.

 

[armorshell]

Sounds totally possible - coating your teeth with this clear substance. So its like having an invisible crown for every single teeth. Even if re-coating is required every year, its still worth it for most people.

This would be a sealant, but you can't predicatably seal against interproximal or subgingival decay. The sealant would either be affected by the moisture of the sulcus, impossible to properly instument into a smooth, cleansable, non-plaque retentive surface, or both.

What people are failing to mention is that there's already a vaccine against caries, and thats regular brushing and flossing, fluoride, fluoride, fluoride and regular visits to your dentist.

 

[Montserrat]

Full mouth extractions are the best prophylactic measure.

 

[hotrod0917]

I heard that there is a medicine/chemical that, once absorbed into your teeth, will protect it from decaying and you'll never have to brush your teeth again. But dental society is trying hard to prevent this new chemical from being known to the public because if it gets commercialized then everyone will start having perfect teeth and no one will have to visit dentists, causing their career to end.
A current dental student told me about this. I wonder if this is true.

it's a bit one dimensional isn't it. It seems like you assume too little about the field of dentistry, assuming that decay repair is all that dental field consists of. Like the previous posters have said, there are other aspects such as perio, ortho, endo, cosmetic, etc to dentistry, which can't be fixed by chemical integration to teeth. Plus, not having decay and perfect teeth are very different concepts.
Also, in microbiological perspective, there is no broad spectrum chemical that will kill all bacteria, especially with selection. As previous posters have noted, the bacteria S. Mutans, and others utilize the host for food, which means that the chemical will need to alter the lipids, proteins, and sugars of the host, after it has wiped out all of the plaque. I don't even want to think about the side effects of that caliber of drugs. Most plausible prevention would be to eliminate the pellicle, but that'll also kill off the probacteria that protect our teeth. Also, in xerostomia, which is probably the closest example of alteration of pellicle, causes rampant caries rather than curing caries.
Like armor said, there are vaccines and antibacterials esp. cholorohexadine which specifically targets S. Mutans. Yet, caries ensues.
It's one thing to say that we can prevent caries, which is definitely possible, versus saying that lack of decay will lead to perfect teeth and loss of the field of dentistry forever.
I just wished the OP chose his words more carefully, and takes things with a grain of salt. If it sounds too good too be true, it probably isn't.