NEW DENTAL FILLINGS THAT WILL REPAIR TOOTH DECAY

WILL ALSO PROLONG LIFE OF FILLINGS AND HELP ELIMINATE NEED FOR MERCURY CONTAINING AMALGAM


The first data on dental fillings that can actively repair tooth decay is presented by Professor Robert Hill. Professor Hill is Chair of Physical Sciences at the Institute of Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London and co-founder and director of research at BioMin Technologies.


Over 80 percent of the population in the UK has at least one filling, with seven being the average while eight million cavities are filled with amalgam each year.


This data, indicating smart repair of tooth decay, prolonging the life of composite fillings and reducing the need for mercury based amalgams indicates a significant step forward in tooth restorative materials.


Professor Hill outlines how new bioactive glass composites are unique in their ability to release fluoride as well as the significant quantities of calcium and phosphate that are needed to form tooth mineral.


Professor Hill explains that while current dental fillings include inert materials, the data on the new bioactive glass composite shows that it interacts positively with the body providing minerals that replace those lost to tooth decay.


“Our scientists and dentists at Queen Mary replaced the inert tooth filling materials with our new bioactive glass, explained Professor Hill. “Not only did this bioactive glass composite remineralize the partially decayed teeth, but it also creates an alkaline environment that discourages the bacteria that caused the initial decay.


“The new bioactive glass also fills in the gaps with tooth mineral thus preventing the oral bacteria which cause tooth decay from establishing themselves. Research in the US suggests this will potentially prolong the life of fillings and slow secondary tooth decay because the depth of bacterial penetration with bioactive glass fillings was significantly smaller than for inert fillings.”


Richard Whatley the CEO of BioMin Technologies who has recently licensed the technology from Queen Mary Innovations adds “We plan to translate the remineralizing technology developed with the BioMinF® toothpaste into restorative dental products. This is a really exciting development which is attracting interest from a number of commercial companies.”


He added, “There is also huge pressure to eliminate mercury based amalgam fillings by 2020 which is outlined in a host of international agreements. Using this type of bioactive glass composite to fill cavities eliminates the need to use mercury based amalgam by offering aesthetic white fillings which help heal the tooth.”

Losing teeth raises older adults' risks for physical and mental disability

Maintaining good oral health may help older adults prevent a variety of health problems and disabilities. However, the effect of tooth loss on physical or cognitive health and well-being is unknown.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers explored this connection. To do so, they examined information from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) project.

In their study, the research team examined information from more than 60,000 community-dwelling people aged 65 and older who did not meet the Japanese criteria for needing long-term care.

The participants were given questionnaires to complete. They answered a number of questions, including providing information about:

• How many teeth they had
• Their medical and mental health history
• How many falls they had over the last year
• Whether they smoked or drank alcohol
• Their body weight
• How well they were able to perform common activities of daily life

The researchers learned older adults who have significant tooth loss are less functional when compared with people who lose fewer teeth.

The research team suggested that it is essential that older adults receive the support they need to maintain good oral health self-care practices, and that they receive adequate dental care.

Hidden tooth infections may predispose people to heart disease

According to a study carried out at the University of Helsinki, an infection of the root tip of a tooth increases the risk of coronary artery disease, even if the infection is symptomless. Hidden dental root tip infections are very common: as many as one in four Finns suffers from at least one. Such infections are usually detected by chance from X-rays.

"Acute coronary syndrome is 2.7 times more common among patients with untreated teeth in need of root canal treatment than among patients without this issue," says researcher John Liljestrand.

The study was carried out at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases of the University of Helsinki, in cooperation with the Heart and Lung Centre at Helsinki University Hospital. Its results were published in the latest issue of the Journal of Dental Research.

Dental root tip infection, or apical periodontitis, is a bodily defence reaction against microbial infection in the dental pulp. Caries is the most common cause of dental root tip infection.

Today, information is increasingly available about the connection between oral infections and many common chronic diseases. For example, periodontitis, an inflammatory disease affecting the tissues that surround the teeth, causes low-grade inflammation and is regarded as an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease and diabetes. Dental root tip infections have been studied relatively little in this context, even though they appear to be connected with low-grade inflammation as well.

The study consisted of 508 Finnish patients with a mean age of 62 years who were experiencing heart symptoms at the time of the study. Their coronary arteries were examined by means of angiography, and 36 per cent of them were found to be suffering from stable coronary artery disease, 33 per cent were undergoing acute coronary syndrome, and 31 did not suffer from coronary artery disease to a significant degree. Their teeth were examined using panoramic tomography of the teeth and jaws, and as many as 58 per cent were found to be suffering from one or more inflammatory lesions.

The researchers also discovered that dental root tip infections were connected with a high level of serum antibodies related to common bacteria causing such infections. This shows that oral infections affect other parts of the body as well. The statistical analyses took account of age, gender, smoking, type 2 diabetes, body mass index, periodontitis and the number of teeth as confounding factors.

Cardiovascular diseases cause more than 30 per cent of deaths globally. They can be prevented by a healthy diet, weight control, exercise and not smoking. With regard to the health of the heart, measures should be taken to prevent or treat oral infections, as they are very common and often asymptomatic. Root canal treatment of an infected tooth may reduce the risk of heart disease, but more research is needed.

Link between periodontal and cerebrovascular diseases

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A new study has revealed a relationship between chronic periodontitis and lacunar infarct, two common diseases in the elderly. Chronic periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of the gums, whereas lacunar infarct is a type of cerebral small vessel disease that can lead to a stroke.

Additional research is needed to understand this link. It is hypothesized that periodontitis leads to systemic inflammation and, as a result, the health of the blood vessels could be affected. On the other hand, chronic periodontitis and lacunar infarct may share common vascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.

"We observed that people diagnosed with periodontal disease had about a 4-fold increased risk of developing lacunar stroke compared with those without periodontitis. If further prospective cohort studies confirm our findings, interventional studies should be performed to assess the potential benefit of periodontal therapy in patients with lacunar stroke and periodontitis," said Dr. Yago Leira, lead author of the European Journal of Neurology study. "Periodontal treatment may also decrease systemic inflammation and, therefore, it may reduce the risk of developing lacunar infarct."

Exposure to chemicals in plastic and fungicides may irreversibly weaken children’s teeth

Chemicals commonly found in plastics and fungicides may be weakening children's teeth by disrupting hormones that stimulate the growth of dental enamel, according to a new study presented today at the European Congress of Endocrinology.

Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with mammalian hormones. Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the most prevalent, found in every-day items including refillable drink bottles and food storage containers. Vinclozolin is another endocrine disruptor that was commonly used as a fungicide in vineyards, golf courses and orchards.

Molar incisor hypermineralisation (MIH) is a pathology affecting up to 18% of children aged 6-9, in which the permanent first molars and incisors teeth that erupt have sensitive spots that become painful and are prone to cavities. These spots are found on dental enamel, the tough outer covering of teeth that protects it from physical and chemical damage. Unlike bone, enamel does not regrow and so any damage is irreversible. Previous rat studies have shown that MIH may result from exposure to BPA after finding similar damage to the enamel of rats that received a daily dose of BPA equivalent to normal human BPA exposure, though the exact mechanism of action remains unclear.

In this study, researchers from the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) gave rats daily doses of BPA alone or in combination with vinclozolin, equivalent to an average dose a human would experience daily, from birth till they were thirty days old. They then collected cells from the rats' teeth surface and found that BPA and vinclozolin changed the expression of two genes controlling the mineralisation of tooth enamel.

In part two of their experiment, the team cultured and studied rat ameloblast cells, which deposit enamel during the development of teeth. They found that the presence of sex hormones like oestrogen and testosterone boosted the expression of genes making tooth enamel, especially male sex hormones. As BPA and vinclozolin are known to block the effect of male sex hormones, the findings reveal a potential mechanism by which endocrine disruptors are weakening teeth.

"Tooth enamel starts at the third trimester of pregnancy and ends at the age of 5, so minimising exposure to endocrine disruptors at this stage in life as a precautionary measure would be one way of reducing the risk of enamel weakening," said Dr Katia Jedeon, lead author of the study.

Pot-Smokers Harm Gums; Other Physical Effects Slight

Long-term study finds no differences in metabolism, lung function, inflammation

A long-term study of nearly 1,000 New Zealanders from birth to age 38 has found that people who smoked marijuana for up to 20 years have more gum disease, but otherwise do not show worse physical health than non-smokers.

The international research team assessed a dozen measures of physical health, including lung function, systemic inflammation and several measures of metabolic syndrome, including waist circumference, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure, glucose control and body mass index.
Tobacco users in the study, which appears online the week of June 1 in JAMA Psychiatry, were found to have gum disease as well as reduced lung function, systemic inflammation and indicators of poorer metabolic health.

“We can see the physical health effects of tobacco smoking in this study, but we don’t see similar effects for cannabis smoking,” said Madeline Meier, an assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University who conducted the study with colleagues at Duke University, King’s College in the UK and the University of Otago in New Zealand.

While study participants who had used marijuana to some degree over the last 20 years showed an increase in periodontal disease from age 26 to 38, they did not differ from non-users on any of the other physical health measures. To measure cannabis use, they asked study subjects to self-report their use at ages 18, 21, 26, 32 and 38.

The study’s statistical analysis found that the decline in periodontal health in pot smokers was not explained by tobacco smoking, alcohol abuse or less tooth brushing and flossing. The lack of physical health problems among cannabis users also was not attributable to their having had better health to begin with or to living healthier lifestyles.

“We don’t want people to think, ‘Hey, marijuana can’t hurt me,’ because other studies on this same sample of New Zealanders have shown that marijuana use is associated with increased risk of psychotic illness, IQ decline and downward socioeconomic mobility,” Meier said.

“What we’re seeing is that cannabis may be harmful in some respects, but possibly not in every way,” said study co-author Avshalom Caspi, the Edward M. Arnett Professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke. “We need to recognize that heavy recreational cannabis use does have some adverse consequences, but overall damage to physical health is not apparent in this study.”

“Physicians should certainly explain to their patients that long-term marijuana use can put them at risk for losing some teeth,” said Terrie Moffitt, the Nannerl O. Keohane University Professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke and co-director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, from which these data were gathered.

What is the best way to whiten teeth? (video)

In the age of selfies, it seems everyone wants to have a whiter, brighter smile. While one option to achieve this involves a trip to the dentist for a professional whitening, many people have turned to over-the-counter teeth-whitening treatments. How do these work, and are they safe?