Tideglusib Drug - Possible New Treatment for Dental Cavities

Highlights:

Dental cavities are a common cause of toothache
They are currently treated using fillings, or in really bad cases, tooth extractions
A new treatment that is being investigated could stimulate the cells of the damaged teeth to grow and fill up the cavity, simulating a natural repair

A research team from the Dental Institute King’s College London have suggested a possible new treatment for dental cavities in their paper published in the Scientific Reports.

The treatment, which has been tested in mice, could possibly bring about healing in a way that could closely replicate the normal healing process in the damaged tooth.

Tooth Decay - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment & Prevention
Tooth decay in toddlers, children and adults, also called dental caries, is a bacterial infection causing demineralization and destruction of the hard tissues of the teeth.

‘Is it possible to treat large dental cavities without a filling or extracting the tooth? The answer could be yes in a not-so-distant future.’

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A toothache can cause excruciating pain, which is often difficult to forget. And despite proper dental care, a cavity at some point in life is almost unavoidable. The inner nerve endings get exposed when the outer dentine gets eroded, resulting in severe pain.

The treatment of the tooth cavity often involves several visits to the dentist. The dentist fills up the cavity with artificial substances like inorganic cement and other fillers depending on the aesthetic requirements of the patient. The ordeal may not end at this. The patient may suffer from repeated infections around the filling. The filling may come out requiring a repeat procedure. The tooth may eventually need extraction.

Possible Alternative to the Use of Fillers for Large Dental Cavities

Quiz on Dental Care
Dental care is an important part of a person's grooming and overall health. This quiz attempts to inform you about dental cavities and decays and also hopes to enlighten you with tips on safe guarding dental health which is primary to your well being.

Learn more about dental care by participating in this quiz.

The research team used three small molecule glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3) antagonists including tideglusib to repair experimentally damaged mice teeth. Tideglusib is being investigated for its possible use in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, a totally unrelated neurological condition that causes memory loss and mainly affects elderly individuals.

Diabetes and Dental Health
The oral health preventive strategies in individuals at risk for diabetes are important because they play a key role in oral diseases that affect dental care.

The GSK-3 antagonists stimulated the stem cells (immature cells with the ability to regenerate) of the tooth pulp, and healing of the dental cavity took place in a way that resembled more commonly the natural healing process of the tooth. Collagen sponge was used to deliver the medication, which disintegrated in due course.

The research team feels that since tideglusib is already undergoing testing in human beings (though for a different indication), several aspects like safety would have already been studied, thereby allowing the new treatment to come into the market faster. Collagen sponge is already available in the market, which could further make the process faster. However, this study was conducted on mice teeth, and is still quite some time away before it can be widely adopted for the treatment of dental cavities.

Prevent Tooth Decay in Children by Using Dental Sealants
Dental sealants are considered as the quickest, safest and pain-free method to prevent cavities. Dental sealants are also known as pit and fissure sealants.

Reference:

’Promotion of natural tooth repair by small molecule GSK3 antagonists’ by Vitor Neves, Rebecca Babb, Dhivya Chandrasekaran and Paul T Sharpe. Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 39654 (2017) doi:10.1038/srep39654

Source-Medindia