Teeth

It sure would be nice if teeth could just repair themselves. Thankfully that’s not as far-fetched as it sounds – researchers have found a new population of stem cells in mice that are in charge of repairing tooth tissue and could be recruited to help us patch up cavities.

​Getting a filling isn't always the end of a tooth's cavity problems. Sometimes, bacteria is able to get down between the filling and the surface of the tooth, causing another cavity to occur. A new antibacterial dental restorative material, however, could help keep that from happening.

The now-extinct megalodon was the largest predatory shark to ever live, while the great white is currently the largest of the predatory sharks. It now turns out that both fish likely descended from a small, flat shark that skulked along the seabed.

We owe our lives to our immune systems – without it, even the most minor of sniffles could be fatal. But the immune system makes mistakes too. Now, researchers at the University of Toronto have found that cavities might also be collateral damage from an overzealous immune system.

A common oral bacteria has been found to release a molecule that accelerates the growth of colorectal cancers. The impressive new research could lead to new cancer treatments as well as offer a valuable biomarker to help doctors identify potentially aggressive cancers.

When you get a cavity filled, you may just assume that the fix will last indefinitely. In fact, though, fillings do have a limited lifespan. That said, a new dental material – and a new adhesive to keep it inside the tooth – could allow fillings to last longer than ever before.

A provocative new study is suggesting the same bacteria responsible for gum disease is also the primary pathogenic cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Not only that, but a new drug developed to inhibit these bacterial toxins and treat Alzheimer’s is moving into major human clinical trials later this year.

Braces may straighten out people's smiles, but unfortunately they also often cause teeth to decay, resulting in off-putting white marks. There's hope, however, as an experimental new bonding glue for braces has been shown to prevent that decay.

Teeth can’t naturally repair themselves – so when a kid injures a permanent tooth at a young age, they’re stuck with that for life. But a new clinical trial has shown promising results in using dental stem cells derived from a patient’s baby teeth to bring a “dead” tooth back to life.

When a root canal is performed, the infected dental pulp inside a tooth is replaced with tiny rubber rods – unfortunately this leaves the tooth dead, and thus likely to become infected again. A new procedure, however, may be able to keep such teeth alive and strong.

Regardless of what you may think of the practise of teeth-whitening, it appears to not just be a passing fad – and it can harm peoples' teeth. Scientists from China's Nanchang University are out to make it safer, with an experimental new technique.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says that brushing a dog's teeth regularly is the best way to maintain their oral health, and Bristly is a new tool designed to let them do the grunt work.​