Stem cells instead of fillings
New drug helps restore teeth
A treatment method is proposed that allows stimulating the natural ability of teeth to recover. A drug called tideglusib (tideglusib) activates stem cells in the soft tissue of the tooth.
Under the layer of tooth enamel is hard dentin, which makes up the main part of the tooth. Inside, under the dentin, there is a soft tissue – pulp. Usually, pulp stem cells are able to repair only small defects in dentin. To do this, they turn into odontoblasts – cells located on the periphery of the pulp and producing dentin. Larger cracks and holes in the dentine require the intervention of a dentist who fills them with artificial materials. "Natural repair" of teeth is preferable, since dental cements used as part of fillings weaken the tooth, make it prone to infections and inevitably sooner or later separate themselves from the dental tissue.
Earlier, researchers found out that tideglusib stimulates the formation of odontoblasts from pulp stem cells. This time they experimentally tested the restoration of teeth under the influence of this drug on laboratory mice. The researchers made holes in the dentine of mice, and then placed a biodegradable collagen sponge soaked in tideglusib there and sealed with dental glue. A few weeks later, the condition of the teeth was checked, and it turned out that the collagen had collapsed during this time and was replaced with a new dentin. Scientists consider the new method to be a good way to treat dentin defects while maintaining the structure of healthy dental tissue. In addition, tideglusib, which was previously proposed to be used for Alzheimer's disease, has already managed to pass the first clinical trials, where its safety was proven. Therefore, the path of the new drug to practical use will be shorter.
The results of the study are published in the journal Scientific Reports (Neves et al., Promotion of natural tooth repair by small molecule GSK3 antagonists).
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11.01.2017