Welcome to Dr Yani's blog. Helping to educate people for a better oral and overall health. Feel free to ask questions on topics you would like to learn more about.
A new
discovery about a drug developed for Alzheimer's patients might replace
fillings for cavity repair. Tideglusib stimulates stem cells in the pulp
of teeth, promoting new dentine production and natural tooth repair.
Goodbye, Fillings
Dental fillings may soon be left in the ash
heap of history, thanks to a recent discovery about a drug called
Tideglusib. Developed for and trialled to treat Alzheimer’s disease, the
drug also happens to promote the natural tooth regrowth mechanism, allowing the tooth to repair cavities.
Tideglusib works by stimulating stem cells
in the pulp of teeth, the source of new dentine. Dentine is
the mineralized substance beneath tooth enamel that gets eaten away by
tooth decay.
Teeth can naturally regenerate dentine
without assistance, but only under certain circumstances. The pulp must
be exposed through infection (such as decay) or trauma to prompt the
manufacture of dentine. But even then, the tooth can only regrow a very
thin layer naturally—not enough to repair cavities caused by decay,
which are generally deep. Tideglusib changes this outcome because it
turns off the GSK-3 enzyme, which stops dentine from forming.
Image Credit: ales_kartal/Pixabay
In the research,
the team inserted small, biodegradable sponges made of collagen soaked
in Tideglusib into cavities. The sponges triggered dentine growth and
within six weeks, the damage was repaired. The collagen structure of the
sponges melted away, leaving only the intact tooth.
Thus far, the procedure has only been used
in mouse teeth. Yet as King’s College London Dental Institute Professor
and lead author Paul Sharpe told The Telegraph, “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.”
He added, “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.”
I felt my patient could get a deeper understanding of the correlation of SSRI (serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs and Bruxism) by reading this very interesting article from Dr Spear's website.
It is very important to understand that these type of antidepressant drugs can cause involuntary muscle contractions that can lead to grinding causing cracked, fractures teeth, restorations and even loss of teeth.
In today’s world, everyone is being pushed to their limits in just about
every aspect that you can imagine. More is demanded with fewer resources and
less time. All this becomes a source of stress and anxiety and even depression
for the population as a whole.
This “epidemic” of depression and anxiety spurred the development of newer
medications with fewer side effects to help manage these conditions and hence,
the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) were born in 1988. Since
then, recent reports show that the use of the SSRIs (i.e. Paxil, Zoloft,
Prozac, Celexa, Effexor, etc.) has increased more than 400 percent!
As dentists, we see on a regular basis the signs of bruxism or
clenching/grinding of the teeth, and some of it is the result of stress
and anxiety. But another factor that we have to keep in mind is that patients
are now taking more anti-anxiety and antidepressants than ever before in history.
It is often overlooked, but the SSRIs and even some of the SSNRIs (Selective
Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors) often increase bruxism or
clenching and grinding effects at night.
This leads to patients having an increased frequency of headaches, jaw pain
and other symptoms of clenching/grinding. In my own practice, I have seen many
patients that have presented with increased frequency and intensity of symptoms
shortly after the patient starts on these medications. I have found that sometimes
a change in medication or reduction in the dosage with the help of the
prescribing medical doctor can help, but sometimes there seems to be little to
no effect.
In recent studies, there is support for a theory of how these medications
cause an imbalance in the brain, leading to a drug-induced bruxism that
sometimes does not go away with a decrease or cessation of the medication and
may even require other medications to help alleviate the bruxism.1
So the next time you see patients on one of these medications you might
want to keep this in mind, as the bruxism will cause your dentistry to fail
quicker and may be causing your patients a lot more issues.
