A New Study Shows Aspirin Could Help Fix Tooth Decay

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast have found that aspirin could reverse the effects of tooth decay resulting in a reduction in the need for fillings. Now about 7 million fillings are provided by the NHS in England.

Tooth decay is the most common dental disease. Tooth decay imposes a huge burden on the NHS, especially.

Tooth decay points to the decaying of the tooth structure, formation of cavities and further inflammation of the tooth nerve causing toothache. Current treatment for tooth decay involves dentures, where dentists may reestablish the cavity or hole using a synthetic material that does not resemble the natural tooth structure and may need to be replaced many times during the life period of the tooth.

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast have found that aspirin could supply an alternate solution to restoring a tooth affected by corrosion. The research findings, to be presented today (7 September 2017) at the British Society for Oral and Dental Research Annual ConferenceStudies reveal that aspirin can enhance the purpose of stem cells found in the teeth thus assisting self-repair by regenerating missing tooth structure.

The researchers mixed genomics and bioinformatics to recognize aspirin for a candidate drug with properties that stimulate existing stem cells from the tooth to enhance the regeneration of the damaged tooth structure. The remedy of stem cells from teeth using low-dose aspirin significantly increased mineralization and the expression of genes responsible for forming dentine, the hard tooth arrangement that is damaged by corrosion. This publication discovery combined with the famous anti-inflammatory and pain relieving effects of aspirin might provide a special solution for controlling tooth nerve inflammation and pain while.

The principal researcher Dr. El Karim said: "There is huge potential to change our approach to one of their greatest dental challenges we confront. Our original research conclusions in the lab suggest that the use of aspirin, a drug already licensed for individual use, could offer an immediate, innovative solution enabling our teeth to fix themselves.

"Our next step will be to create an appropriate delivery system to check the medication efficacy in a clinical trial. This novel approach couldn't just increase the long-term survival of teeth but could also lead to huge savings to the NHS and other healthcare systems worldwide."