Teeth can cope with minor damages to the pulp. However, large cavities call for fillings to prevent infection or extraction.
Key takeaways:
– The researchers have found that a drug used to treat Alzheimer’s is able to stimulate the tooth to generate new dentine.
– The drug works by stimulating the growth of stem cells already in the pulp to grow into new dentine.
– The simplicity of the treatment and the drug having been tested for Alzheimer’s makes it ideal clinical treatment for large cavities.
The novel, biological approach could see teeth use their natural ability to repair large cavities rather than using cements or fillings, which are prone to infections and often need replacing a number of times.
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