New filling could help with bone loss

Published May 22, 2015

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London - A gel “filling” made from calcium could prevent complications after having your teeth extracted.

The filling is injected into the socket immediately after a tooth is removed to encourage the growth of new bone.

This prevents the surrounding jawbone weakening and shrinking away - a common problem when a tooth has been removed.

It can lead to problems with biting and chewing as well as making it more difficult for future dental work, such as implants or bridges, which require a good bony foundation to work properly. And it may mean dentures don’t fit as securely.

Bone loss can also cause the gum line to collapse, which can make the face appear narrower, sunken and older.

Currently, the only way to restore lost bone is a surgical bone graft, typically taken from the thigh bone, which can be expensive as well as painful.

Normally after a tooth is removed, the vacant socket fills with blood, which slowly transforms during the following days into bony tissue. But often it does not completely fill the void and there is an overall loss of bone at the point where the tooth would have met the jaw.

Research from the Baylor College of Dentistry in the US suggested that as much as 40 percent of the height and 60 percent of the bone’s width around the extraction is lost in the first six months. The new gel, designed as an injectable bone substitute, is made of tiny granules of calcium phosphate - the same mineral that the outer coating of our teeth is made of. The body’s natural growth factors can permeate the gel filling, encouraging tissue to grow around it. After six months, the gel will have dissipated and the cavity should be completely filled with bony tissue.

The gel is being tested in France at Nantes University Hospital. Up to 70 patients will have the gel filling or no extra treatment after the removal of a molar.

Commenting on the gel, Damien Walmsley, professor of restorative dentistry at the University of Birmingham and scientific adviser to the British Dental Association, said: “It’s an interesting idea. They are using this material to form a scaffold around which the new bone will grow.

“Bone grows slowly, while soft tissue grows rapidly. This approach allows the cavity to be filled with bone rather than soft tissue. It seems like a good approach to preserving the bone.”

* Meanwhile, a protein injection is being used to treat receding gums.

The jab contains a number of synthetic proteins, which are thought to stimulate the production of growth factors that help form our teeth and surrounding gum tissue.

Sometimes surgery is offered to re-cover the tooth root exposed by receding gums with a small tissue graft. German researchers believe the protein jab could help speed up the healing process after surgical treatment.

After giving the patient a local anaesthetic, the dentist makes a small incision in the receding gum and the root surface of the tooth is cleaned.

The graft is put in place then the protein material is put on to the root surface with a syringe and the wound stitched.

A trial involving 40 patients comparing treatment with and without the gel is under way at Switzerland’s University of Bern.

Daily Mail

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