Artificial Enamel Is on the Way

[Sledgstone 8,672]

http://gizmodo.com/5943928/throw-out-your-toothbrush-artificial-enamel-is-on-the-way

When it comes to keeping your pearly whites in good shape, one of the most important things is to preserve your enamel. If you lose that protective coating, your teeth will get sensitive, and there's no way to get it back. At least until now. A newly developed material could be used as an impervious shield on your chompers.

Hydroxyapatite, a biomaterial, has always been attractive for use in repairing bones and teeth, but it tends to be inflexible, which makes it difficult to apply to teeth. Now, Japanese researchers have found a way to make it more pliable, enough so that it could be a 0.00016-inch thin, practically invisible barrier that's basically shrink-wrapped around your pearly whites.

There are all kinds of practical benefits to this. In addition to being used to repair enamel, it can be used to protect it before it's eroded by acid and sugar. And while the stuff that's been tested on disembodied human teeth has been clear, it could also come in a nice shade of white. The stuff still has to undergo some testing, but it could be available for cosmetic dentistry in as little as three years, and for more practical purposes in five. [AFP via Medical Daily]

I need this treatment.. My enamel was pretty much ripped away from too much soda when I was a kid.

[Dubird 6,815]

3 years is about when I'll need to actually get veneers rather than fillings on my front teeth. I wonder if it'll be available then and covered by insurance then?

[Myk JL 1,731]

Now I feel stumped on what Act Total Care & Sensodyne Pronamil do.... Could've sworn this stuff was repairing my teeth.... Especially with how Act Total Care solved my burning mouth problem before the dentist could. Or when I forget to brush my teeth for awhile.... Causing them to get sharp.... Only to get that to go away once I remember again to take care of my teeth.

....

My teeth feel smooth ATM.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I use the same stuff. Sensodine toothpaste is great for the sensitivity. As for the pronamel or act restoring mouthwash, it only fills in/restores microscopic flaws in the existing enamel.. according to my dentist nothing will replace or regrow enamel that has been lost. I wish I knew the importance of enamel back when I was a kid. Everything was, "brush your teeth twice a day and floss after meals" I should have been told: "Brush your teeth with a soft bristle toothbrush and floss twice a day.. and don't drink soda at all because the acids will destroy your enamel and in 20 something years you'll never be able to drink cold water again without experiencing pain for the rest of your life." x_x

3 years is about when I'll need to actually get veneers rather than fillings on my front teeth. I wonder if it'll be available then and covered by insurance then?

I hope it'd be covered by insurance. I'll get it done asap.

[Pchan 5,162]

Enamenal, Emanemal, Nyan nyan, Nyan nyaaaaan~.

Dental insurance is expensive out there, like anything medically related. I wish the doctor's were as good to justify the cost, quite the contrary.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Never go to an Aspen Dental. I've been going to one for years and I'm fed up with them. After having a fourth filling fall out a month ago, I'm done with them. And I swear that they did my fillings half assed because I have decent insurance. I found out that even though they don't charge me for fixing the shit filling that fell out, they were still charging my insurance company a second time for the same filling, but not charging me the second copay. So they were basically getting paid twice to do the same filling.

[Pchan 5,162]

Whenever I read Aspen I think of Dumb And Dumber.

[Ladywriter 7,783]

sheesh you think soda is bad for teeth try smoking for 20 years

I lost 3 out of 4 12 yr molars It wasn't all smoking I'm a grinder and a clencher and have broke a quarter of my tooth off and swallowed it in my sleep >.<

[Pchan 5,162]

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