A novel method of stimulating the renewal of living stem cells in tooth pulp using an Alzheimer’s drug called Tideglusib has been discovered by scientists at King’s College London, UK.

Following trauma or an infection, the inner, soft pulp of a tooth can become exposed and infected.

In order to protect the tooth from infection, a thin band of dentine is naturally produced and this seals the tooth pulp, but it is insufficient to effectively repair large cavities.

Currently dentists use artificial cements or fillings, such as calcium and silicon-based products, to treat these larger cavities and fill holes in teeth. This cement remains in the tooth and fails to disintegrate, meaning that the normal mineral level of the tooth is never completely restored.

However, Prof. Paul Sharpe and co-authors from the Department of Craniofacial Development and Stem Cell Biology at the Dental Institute of King’s College London have proven a way to stimulate the stem cells contained in the pulp of the tooth and generate new dentine – the mineralized material that protects the tooth – in large cavities, potentially reducing the need for fillings or cements.

“The simplicity of our approach makes it ideal as a clinical dental product for the natural treatment of large cavities, by providing both pulp protection and restoring dentine,” Prof. Sharpe said.

“In addition, using a drug that has already been tested in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease provides a real opportunity to get this dental treatment quickly into clinics.”

The new approach could see teeth use their natural ability to repair large cavities rather than using cements or fillings, which are prone to infections and often need replacing a number of times.

Indeed when fillings fail or infection occurs, dentists have to remove and fill an area that is larger than what is affected, and after multiple treatments the tooth may eventually need to be extracted.

As this method encourages natural tooth repair, it could eliminate all of these issues, providing a more natural solution for patients.

Significantly, one of the small molecules used by Prof. Sharpe and his colleagues to stimulate the renewal of the stem cells included Tideglusib. This presents a real opportunity to fast-track the treatment into practice.

Using biodegradable collagen sponges to deliver the treatment, the researchers applied low doses of small molecule glycogen synthase kinase to the tooth.

“Biodegradable, clinically-approved collagen sponges are used to deliver low doses of small molecule glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3) antagonists that promote the natural processes of reparative dentine formation to completely restore dentine,” they said.

“Since the carrier sponge is degraded over time, dentine replaces the degraded sponge leading to a complete, effective natural repair.”

“This simple, rapid natural tooth repair process could thus potentially provide a new approach to clinical tooth restoration.”

The team’s results were published online January 9 in the journal Scientific Reports.

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V.C.M. Neves et al. 2017. Promotion of natural tooth repair by small molecule GSK3 antagonists. Sci. Rep. 7: 39654; doi: 10.1038/srep39654

This article is based on a press-release from King’s College London.