Why go to the dentist and endure all this torture with injections and drills, if you can force your teeth to simply regenerate destroyed enamel and other damaged tissues? Sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, doesn't it? But scientists from King's College London have truly discovered a revolutionary dental treatment that can turn modern dentistry on its head.
As it turned out, the common drug that relieves a number of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease has another amazing property: it makes teeth regenerate. Tooth decay is familiar to many people. Once having started their teeth, people often do not want to visit dentists because of the primal fear of the pain that can be encountered in the doctor's office (and in vain, today everything is done completely painlessly). And when a toothache becomes simply unbearable, it turns out that it is already very expensive and difficult to treat a tooth, or even too late, and all that remains is to pull it out.
The drug is called Tideglusib, and it has undergone a number of clinical studies, during which it has proven itself as a good way to fight Alzheimer's disease. The active ingredient of the drug is an inhibitor molecule of GSK3 kinase, which phosphorylates a number of body proteins, including transcription factors that regulate cell division and apoptosis (a regulated process of programmed cell death, as a result of which the cell breaks down into separate apoptotic bodies). When placed in the cavity of a damaged tooth, the drug literally allows the cells of the dental tissue to divide unhindered.
Scientists soaked collagen sponges with the preparation and placed them in cavities in the enamel and dentin of the teeth of laboratory mice. After six weeks, the cavities were completely filled with new cells that appeared at the site of the injury. To say that this is a breakthrough for dentistry is to say nothing. Scientists very much hope that very soon their discovery will allow us to restore damaged enamel without the ominous buzzing of dental instruments and other unpleasant sensations. Hopefully, the technique won't have serious side effects in clinical trials.
SERGEY GRAY