The Independent opens wide with a new treatment that promises to help teeth repair themselves:
The technique, developed at King’s College London, effectively reverses decay by using electrical currents to boost the tooth’s natural repair process.
Minerals that are lost during decay and eventually cause painful cavities are replaced, removing the need for drilling and fillings of resin or amalgam.
The technique, known as Electrically Accelerated and Enhanced Remineralisation (EAER), could be available within three years.
Professor Nigel Pitts, from the Dental Institute at King’s College London, said: “The way we treat teeth today is not ideal – when we repair a tooth by putting in a filling, that tooth enters a cycle of drilling and re-filling as, ultimately, each ‘repair’ fails.
“Not only is our device kinder to the patient and better for their teeth, but it’s expected to be at least as cost-effective as current dental treatments.”
They’re already talking about investors and using the word “launch.”
The research seems related to a similar tooth-renewing treatment devised at Leeds University.
[some stuff via]