enamel

Could Artificial Saliva Help Protect Wisdom Teeth and Other High-Risk Teeth From Decay?

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Most people think of saliva as something they barely notice—until it is gone. But saliva plays a major role in protecting teeth from acid, bacteria, and enamel damage. New research (Natara Dias Gomes Da Silva, Paulo Sérgio da Silva Santos, Flávio Henrique-Silva, Ana Carolina Magalhães, Marcos Roberto Chiaratti, Elbert de Josselin de Jong, Pamela K DenBesten, Marília Afonso Rabelo Buzalaf. A novel artificial saliva enriched with CaneCPI-5 for irradiated head and neck cancer (HNC) patients: in vitro antimicrobial and anticaries effect. Journal of Dentistry, 2025; 163: 106176) suggests that an artificial saliva made with a sugarcane-derived protein may one day help protect teeth in a way that is much closer to natural saliva. That could be especially important for people with dry mouth, high cavity risk, and hard-to-clean areas such as around wisdom teeth. The key ingredient in this new approach is … Read more

Looking at the dentition of several million year old skull

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An interesting article titled “Preliminary paleohistological observations of the StW 573 (‘Little Foot’) skull” appears in eLife written by Amélie Beaudet and et al. (March 2, 2021). The article explores initial results an X-ray based imaging investigation of the skull of a 3.67-million-year-old Australopithecus specimen which is a prehuman ancestor known as Little Foot. In the study the authors presented initial results of the investigation of the dentition and cranial bones of Little Foot. Little foot was found in a cave in the 1990s in South Africa. It took 15 years to completely remove Little foot from the ground and is regarded as the most complete skeleton of the early hominin lineage leading to humans. The researchers brought Little Foot’s skull from South Africa to the U.K. to scan it with a synchrotron x-ray microcomputed tomography system. The authors were able to, for the … Read more

Synthetic Tooth Enamel May lead to Resilent Structures

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Unavoidable vibrations, such as those on airplanes, cause rigid structures to age and crack, but researchers have found that if you design them more like tooth enamel, it could lead to more resilient structures such as flight computers. Most materials that absorb vibration are soft and don’t make good structural components such as beams, chassis or motherboards. Artificial enamel is better than solid commercial and experimental materials that are aimed at the same vibration damping, as it’s lighter, more effective and less expensive. Researchers from the University of Michigan examined many structures in animals that had to withstand shocks and vibrations: bones, shells, carapaces and teeth. These living structures changed from species to species and over the eons. Tooth enamel told a different story. Under an electron microscope, it shared a similar structure whether it came from a Tyrannosaurus, a … Read more

Making your smile as good as new with teeth recontouring

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With so many advanced dentistry techniques seemingly becoming even more accessible, some of the more simpler procedures are perhaps becoming forgotten. It could be argued that teeth recontouring falls into this category and if you have a slightly damaged tooth, it’s something that should be considered over some of the more invasive procedures that are available. If you were to ask what any dentist Fareham has to offer what the easiest way to ‘fix’ a deformed tooth is you’ll most certainly be providing with the recontouring answer. Strictly speaking, it’s referred to as odontoplasty or enameloplasty in the dentistry world, but the results are the same – it’s something that can act as a quick but efficient fix. Considering the somewhat-unknown nature of teeth recontouring, we’ll now take a look at the procedure in complete detail through the course of … Read more

Teeth whitening: Debunking the top myths

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Teeth whitening is one of the most mainstream dental procedures around. It has become so mainstream that a lot of options are do it yourself based. While you can find dentists in Ballymena or your wherever you may live, there are other ways in which you can apply an in-home treatment and reap the benefits. Admittedly, the latter isn’t quite as potent and the whiteness might not be as satisfying, but the option does exist. As this is a procedure which has become so popular over recent years, it’s hardly surprising to see that there are umpteen myths and misconceptions that are around. Bearing this in mind, some of the most common myths surrounding teeth whitening are highlighted below. Myth #1 – You can use fruit to whiten your teeth Strawberries and lemons seem to be the most commonly referred … Read more