Dried licorice root fights the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease

Scientists are reporting identification of two substances in licorice — used extensively in Chinese traditional medicine — that kill the major bacteria responsible for tooth decay and gum disease, the leading causes of tooth loss in children and adults. In a study in ACS’ Journal of Natural Products, they say that these substances could have a role in treating and preventing tooth decay and gum disease.

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Print your own teeth

Rapid prototyping comes to dentistry, at last

What if, instead of waiting days or weeks for a cast to be produced and prosthetic dental implants, false teeth and replacement crowns to be made, your dentist could quickly scan your jaw and “print” your new teeth using a rapid prototyping machine known as a 3D printer?

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Periodontal stem cell transplantation shows promise

Tampa, Fla. (April 11, 2011) – Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) have been found to be the most efficacious of three kinds of clinically tested dental tissue-derived stem cells, reports a study published in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (20:2), freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/.

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Bone-creating protein could improve dental implant success

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Using a bone-creating protein to augment the maxillary sinus could improve dental implant success, according to Georgia Health Sciences University researchers.

Dental implants, screws that anchor permanent prosthetic teeth, won’t work if the bone in which they are anchored is too thin. Bone-thinning is a common cause and consequence following tooth loss. The current favored solution is to supplement the area with bone grafts to stabilize the implant base. But that technique is problematic “primarily because it involves additional surgeries to harvest the bone,” said Dr. Ulf M.E. Wikesjö, Interim Associate Dean for Research and Enterprise in the GHSU College of Dental Medicine.

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Growth factor regenerates tooth supporting structures: Results of a large randomized clinical trial

Alexandria, Va., USA – It is well known that oral infection progressively destroys periodontal tissues and is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. A major goal of periodontal treatment is regeneration of the tissues lost to periodontitis. Unfortunately, most current therapies cannot predictably promote repair of tooth-supporting defects. A variety of regenerative approaches have been used clinically using bone grafts and guiding tissue membranes with limited success.

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Osteoporosis drug builds bone in patients with gum disease

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A drug marketed to grow bone in osteoporosis patients also works to heal bone wounds in gum disease patients, a University of Michigan study suggests.

“This new approach for the treatment of periodontal disease could allow us to rebuild some of the bone that is lost due to periodontal disease, which until this point has been very difficult to achieve,” said Jill Bashutski, clinical assistant professor at the U-M School of Dentistry and first author on the study. “Current treatments to re-grow bone around teeth affected with gum disease have limited success rates.”

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Technique to reattach teeth using stem cells developed at UIC

A new approach to anchor teeth back in the jaw using stem cells has been developed and successfully tested in the laboratory for the first time by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The new strategy represents a potential major advance in the battle against gum disease, a serious infection that eventually leads to tooth loss. About 80 percent of U.S. adults suffer from gum disease, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

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OU research team uncovers key molecule for keeping other oral microorganisms in check

A University of Oklahoma research team has uncovered a key to arresting the growth of thrush—a type of oral yeast infection that sickens patients with compromised immune systems, diabetes and newborns as well as healthy individuals, who may contract the disease following antibiotic treatment of an illness.

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Gum disease found to be significant public health concern

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American Academy of Periodontology suggest more American adults may have gum disease; previous estimates underestimate periodontal disease in the US population

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New evidence from NYUCD supports link between gum inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease

NYU dental researchers have found the first long-term evidence that periodontal (gum) disease may increase the risk of cognitive dysfunction associated with Alzheimer’s disease in healthy individuals as well as in those who already are cognitively impaired.

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