| There has been some work, nothing commercialized yet that I've heard of: https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/02/dentists-may-soon-comp... https://www.engadget.com/2016-07-03-regenerative-tooth-filli... https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2016/july/fi... https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=16/07/28/0228219 I've seen a report on PubMed about a successful growth of a new replacement tooth from stem cells in a rabbit as well, can't find the link at the moment. This seems to be a summary of a lot of different research on regrowing teeth, and it states up front that only regrowing enamel seems to be on the near horizon: https://dentalfreak.com/teeth-regeneration-and-regrowth-curr... It seems SDF was approved for kids 7 or so years ago in the US: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=16/07/18/0057230 SDF is used on the very old a lot also (much easier to use for those with Alzheimer's for example). You can ask for it but not a lot of US dentists have experience applying it or keep it in stock. Some dentists will adamantly refuse to apply it, probably because it reduces their profit since if it stops decay there is no filling needed, though it could also be because it can cause staining in unpredictable places (anywhere with decay, and the gums also) that takes months or years to disappear. In general it would seem the dental profession has no reason to welcome a cure for tooth decay and every reason to delay one. It would not put them them entirely out of business, but it certainly would reduce business. There have been some other interesting developments in dentistry: https://munewsarchives.missouri.edu/news-releases/2011/1220-... https://nanovabio.com/ https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120104115106.h... https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/upshot/surprisingly-littl... The sterilizing cold plasma torch is already being used in some surgeries I believe. |