According to the World Health Organization, every adult faces tooth decay at least once in their life. Treatment is generally expensive - in most developed countries, it accounts for about five percent of all health care costs. In poor countries, the demand for these services, in principle, exceeds the capabilities of national medicine. It is more beneficial to have less pain and carefully monitor oral hygiene. And for this, scientists propose to add a few more unusual ways of anti-caries protection to the usual toothbrushes, pastes and threads.
Dangerous films
Microorganisms living in the human oral cavity are to blame for the occurrence of caries. The biofilm they form - plaque - converts free sugars found in foods and beverages into acids that gradually dissolve tooth enamel and hard tissue. Holes appear in the teeth, and if they are not filled in time, you can lose a tooth.
According to the work of American scientists, the predisposition to caries does not depend in any way on heredity. The microbes that cause it live and multiply in the human mouth due to external factors - mainly nutrition. After examining the oral cavities of 485 pairs of twins, the authors of the study found that the number of tannerella - bacteria that are precursors to caries - increases with age. And the number of prevotella and leptotrichia - bacteria responsible for maintaining a healthy microflora of the oral cavity, on the contrary, decreases. Moreover, this directly depends on how much sugar a person eats daily.
Tame bacteria
For the prevention of caries, American biologists propose to introduce beneficial microorganisms into the oral cavity, as is now done with the intestinal microbiome in case of digestive disorders. Among the main contenders for sharing is an unusual strain of streptococcus A12, which does not allow the development of Streptococcus mutans - bacteria whose vital activity is also associated with caries.
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Tooth decay is the result of several types of bacteria, including Streptococcus mutans, which secrete acids into saliva and the surface of the teeth. As a result, the "cement" sticking the enamel grains to each other gradually eats away, and new colonies of microbes settle in the microcracks that appear. This speeds up the process of tooth decay and leads to the formation of a carious cavity.
Experiments on cultures of these microbes have shown that A12 releases into the environment a lot of hydrogen peroxide and several enzymes that block the activity of the "carious strain" of streptococcus. In addition, beneficial bacteria normalize the acid-base balance by decomposing urea molecules and arginine amino acids contained in saliva into carbon dioxide and ammonia. The latter, in turn, combines with acid molecules and neutralizes them, and this further improves the condition of the oral cavity and teeth.
Nano-tooth powder
The nanomaterial developed by American chemists works in a similar way. Microscopic particles of iron oxide, covered with a film of polysaccharides and other organic substances, with increased acidity (microorganisms that cause caries, release a lot of acid into saliva and on the surface of the teeth) begin to produce hydrogen peroxide. This compound kills harmful bacteria and destroys microbial biofilms, protecting teeth from decay.
Scientists tested the nanoparticles on fragments of dental calculus from several volunteers, and then on rats, whose mouths were infected with "carious" streptococcus strains. In both cases, such a "tooth powder" very quickly destroyed growths and killed microbes. Moreover, none of the experimental animals developed new damage to the enamel, and the composition of the microflora did not change.
The authors propose adding anti-caries particles to toothpaste or mouthwash solution. Clinical trials of such agents should begin as soon as possible.
The unexpected benefits of red
While innovative anti-caries developments are not on sale, you can protect your teeth with ordinary red wine. According to Spanish biologists, the polyphenols contained in it prevent the bacteria that cause tooth decay, periodontitis (inflammation of the tooth root and surrounding tissues) and gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) from gaining a foothold in the tissues of the oral cavity.
The researchers tested the effect of polyphenols on gum cell culture. It added Streptococcus mutans, Fusobacterium nucleatum or Porphyromonas gingivalis - bacteria associated with caries, gingivitis and periodontitis, respectively. Then the cells were treated with an extract of red wine or grape seeds, as well as polyphenols contained in wine - caffeic and p-coumaric acids.
It turned out that even a small amount of pure polyphenols or extracts prevented microbes from “sticking” to the fibroblast surface and blocked the formation of a bacterial film. Thus, caffeic and p-coumaric acids reduced the harmfulness of Streptococcus mutans by 20 and 40 percent, respectively.
Similar results were obtained in experiments with microbes that cause gingivitis and periodontitis. Thanks to polyphenols, they attached to fibroblasts 30-50 percent worse. Red wine and grape seed extracts worked the same way. But on the bacteria associated with caries, the extract of red wine had practically no effect.
Alfiya Enikeeva