There are many people who, through some kind of accident, have ended up with an unpleasant-looking gap in their smile. Not only is this extremely embarrassing, having a negative impact on their self-esteem, but it also can be very difficult or even impossible to fix.
Now, thanks to an innovative device, you might be able to actually regrow a damaged tooth. Yes — I said “regrow.”
Dr. Tarak El-Bialy of the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and two engineers also from U of A, Jie Chen and Ying Tsui, have developed an ultrasound transmitter that tucks into your mouth.
The gadget works by sending low-intensity ultrasound pulses to the broken tooth and its remaining roots over a period of months. The vibrations stimulate jawbone tissue and the roots of the tooth, causing them to grow while also boosting the healing process.
Dr. El-Bialy was the one who discovered the effect of ultrasound on damaged teeth through studies conducted first on rabbits and then on human dental patients who were going to have a broken tooth pulled. In the human tests, the subjects held the device (which in the start was much larger than it is now) for 20 minutes a day over four weeks against the problem area.
When the teeth were pulled, Dr. El-Bialy examined them — the roots of the teeth treated with the ultrasound had started to sprout new tissue, while those teeth that received no treatment had not.
After these promising tests, Dr. El-Bialy worked with the two engineers to make the device more compact so that it could fit easily and comfortably into the mouth on either braces or a plastic removable crown. Now that they have a prototype, the scientists are awaiting U.S. patent approval. It could be as little as two years from now that the ultrasound device is made available to dental patients.
While the scientists are not sure of the exact reasons why the ultrasound device seems to spur dental growth, it’s theorized that the ultrasound waves trick the bone into “thinking” that it’s experiencing strenuous exercise, which stimulates it into creating more bone cells. Ultrasound therapy is already put to similar use by physiotherapists in order to speed up the healing process in patients with broken bones.
This fantastic little gadget means that people with broken teeth won’t have to undergo surgery, have foreign materials permanently installed in their mouths, or go through life never smiling.
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