Teeth, Enamel & Courage

 A human tooth is repaired. Though enamel is the hardest tissue in the body, it cannot self-repair.
Photograph: Zhejiang University/Science Advances

After all these years, I still hate going to the dentist.

Since I was little, going to the dentist meant major pain.

But, today, there is hope. Not about less pain, but about a new way to fix tooth enamel other than to drill out the old stuff and fill in the new repair.

Scientists may have found a way to grow new tooth enamel.

Thank you, Dr. Scientist!

Someday I might muster the courage to go to the dentist again.

Here’s the whole story:

Scientists discover way to ‘grow’ tooth enamel, Nicola Davis, the guardian.com, 30 Aug 2019.

Scientists say they have finally cracked the problem of repairing tooth enamel.

Though enamel is the hardest tissue in the body, it cannot self-repair. Now scientists have discovered a method by which its complex structure can be reproduced and the enamel essentially “grown” back.

The team behind the research say the materials are cheap and can be prepared on a large scale. “After intensive discussion with dentists, we believe that this new method can be widely used in future,” said Dr Zhaoming Liu, co-author of the research from Zhejiang University in China.

Tooth decay is extremely common: according to 2016 figures about 2.4 billion people worldwide live with caries in permanent teeth, while 486 million children have decay in their milk teeth.

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