New Dental Technology Could Stop The Need Of Tooth Fillings In Africa, Study Shows

Stella Kabura

11 years ago

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For many, visiting the dentist to get teeth with cavities drilled and filled with metal or plastic is often a hurdle. But that is soon to end as researchers at the King’s College London are developing a procedure that uses low-frequency electrical currents that would help teeth heal without requiring drilling, of which, could be beneficial for Africa. There are options of resolving cavities permanently with dental implants. This method of utilizing the full-arch fixed implant bridge is taking the dental field by storm

In the African Region, between 60 to 80 per cent of school age children are believed to be affected by increasing incidents of tooth cavities due to the increasingly widespread adoption of sugar-rich diets and inadequate exposure to fluorides, notes the World Heath Organisation. However, the new technology termed as “electrically accelerated and enhanced reminerilisation” is expected to put an end to tooth fillings that have early to moderate tooth decay, claim researchers at the college.

Good oral health is generally known to enable an individual to eat, socialize, smile without neither discomfort nor embarrassment. At a time when oral diseases cause unexplained pain or suffering with the disruption of daily performance especially in African children, many in fear of conventional drilling process of teeth with cavities. Nevertheless, the new process is in the next three years expected to see patients pay less visits to the dentist using this pain-free dental technology.

In African countries, tooth decay has been of concern in both poverty stricken areas and urban areas that are adopting sedentary lifestyles of consuming junk food. That has had a negative impact on childhood nutrition, growth and weight gain, notes the WHO. Thus, with less minerals, tooth decay occurs.

Yet, since the 1980s, medics have been requesting the use of remineralisation. And just recently, the researchers at the Kings’ college were focusing on preparing the tooth by removing barriers to the remineralisation process that could last for weeks if done alone. In the process, they also came up with the technology of using electrical currents to help drive minerals into the tooth in just a session of visiting the dentist which was reported about in the Washington Post.

In the procedure, after the tooth is cleaned, minerals with the help of electric current are placed on its surface are driven to the tooth, of which, is a brief, painless process, that would help the tooth and gum tissue heal on their own, claim researchers.

In all, the discovery of this process has inspired dentist Christopher Longbottom and London Professor Nigel Pitts to form Reminova, a company set to raise money and run trials on patients using this technology, in partnership with King’s College. Moreover, academic research supporting the essence of the remineralisation technology will soon be published in medical journals in a few months, a report says.

And if it proves to be a success, the devices would find their way in dentist’s offices in Britain within three years or more as the team works with international dentistry organisations. However, the devices and the technology could take much longer to arrive in Africa amidst the high rates of dental problems among school age kids.