A synthetic enamel for rapid tooth repair

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Materials chemistry

Nature volume 433, page 819 (2005) Cite this article

Seamless fixing of an early caries lesion can be achieved without prior excavation.

Abstract

The conventional treatment of dental caries involves mechanical removal of the affected part and filling of the hole with a resin or metal alloy1,2,3,4. But this method is not ideal for tiny early lesions5,6 because a disproportionate amount of healthy tooth must be removed to make the alloy or resin stick. Here we describe a dental paste of synthetic enamel that rapidly and seamlessly repairs early caries lesions by nanocrystalline growth, with minimal wastage of the natural enamel.

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Figure 1: Repair of an early caries lesion using a synthetic enamel paste.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. FAP Dental Institute, 3-2-1, Kakinokizaka, 502 Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-0022, Japan

    Kazue Yamagishi

  2. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Institute for Human Science and Biomedical Engineering, Central 6, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8566, Japan

    Kazuo Onuma

  3. Department of Applied Chemistry and Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Yamanashi University, 43-11, Takeda, Kofu, Yamanashi, 400-8511, Japan

    Takashi Suzuki & Fumio Okada

  4. Department of Restorative Science, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 5-45, Yushima 1-chome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8549, Japan

    Takashi Suzuki, Junji Tagami, Masayuki Otsuki & Pisol Senawangse

Authors

  1. Kazue Yamagishi
  2. Kazuo Onuma
  3. Takashi Suzuki
  4. Fumio Okada
  5. Junji Tagami
  6. Masayuki Otsuki
  7. Pisol Senawangse

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kazue Yamagishi.

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Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Yamagishi, K., Onuma, K., Suzuki, T. et al. A synthetic enamel for rapid tooth repair. Nature 433, 819 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/433819a

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Editorial Summary

Goodbye to the dentist's drill?

Tooth decay is normally treated by mechanical removal of the affected part, then filling the hole with a resin or metal alloy. This is less than ideal for tiny early caries lesions as so much healthy tooth must be removed to make fillings stick. A newly developed dental paste of synthetic tooth enamel could avoid that problem. The crystalline white paste is made of modified hydroxyapatite, chemically and structurally similar to natural enamel, and it rapidly and seamlessly repairs an early caries lesion by nanocrystalline growth. This new dental paste can be used to reconstruct enamel without the need for drilling; as an added bonus the process not only repairs the caries lesions but also helps prevent them by strengthening the natural enamel.