Researchers Discovered That An Alzheimer's Drug Can Help Teeth Repair Cavities

Dental fillings might soon be left on the ash heap of history, thanks to a recent discovery of what a drug called Tideglusib can do.

Developed to treat Alzheimer's disease, this drug also promotes the natural tooth regrowth mechanism in mice, allowing the teeth to repair cavities.

Tideglusib stimulates stem cells in the pulp of the teeth, the source of new dentine. Dentine is the mineralized substance beneath tooth enamel which gets eaten away by tooth decay.

Our teeth can naturally regenerate dentine without assistance, though only under particular circumstances. The pulp should be exposed through infection (such as decay) or trauma to prompt the manufacture of dentine.

However, even then, the tooth can only regrow a very thin layer naturally - not enough to repair cavities caused by decay, which are usually deep. Tideglusib changes this outcome as it turns off the GSK-3 enzyme, which stops dentine from forming.

In their research, the team inserted small, biodegradable sponges made of collagen soaked in Tideglusib into cavities. These sponges triggered dentine growth, and after six weeks, the damage had been repaired.

The collagen structure of the sponges melted away, and it only left the intact tooth.

Thus far, the procedure has only been used in mice's teeth.

Nevertheless, King's College London Dental Institute Professor and lead author Paul Sharpe told The Telegraph: "Using a drug that has already been tested in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease provides a real opportunity to get this dental treatment quickly into clinics."

He also added, "The simplicity of our approach makes it ideal as a clinical dental product for the natural treatment of large cavities, by providing both pulp protection and restoring dentine."

References: Futurism, Science Alert