A story from scienceblog.com looks at a novel treatment and prevention of tooth decay:
The bacteria that live in dental plaque and contribute to tooth decay often resist traditional antimicrobial treatment, as they can "hide" within a sticky biofilm matrix, a glue-like polymer scaffold.
A new strategy conceived by University of Pennsylvania researchers took a more sophisticated approach. Instead of simply applying an antibiotic to the teeth, they took advantage of the pH-sensitive and enzyme-like properties of iron-containing nanoparticles to catalyze the activity of hydrogen peroxide, a commonly used natural antiseptic. The activated hydrogen peroxide produced free radicals that were able to simultaneously degrade the biofilm matrix and kill the bacteria within, significantly reducing plaque and preventing the tooth decay, or cavities, in an animal model.
"Even using a very low concentration of hydrogen peroxide, the process was incredibly effective at disrupting the biofilm," said Hyun (Michel) Koo, a professor in the Penn School of Dental Medicine's Department of Orthodontics and divisions of Pediatric Dentistry and Community Oral Health and the senior author of the study, which was published in the journal Biomaterials [DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2016.05.051]. "Adding nanoparticles increased the efficiency of bacterial killing more than 5,000-fold."
The paper's lead author was Lizeng Gao, a postdoctoral researcher in Koo's lab. Coauthors were Yuan Liu, Dongyeop Kim, Yong Li and Geelsu Hwang, all of Koo's lab, as well as David Cormode, an assistant professor of radiology and bioengineering with appointments in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine and School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Pratap C. Naha, a postdoctoral fellow in Cormode's lab.
The work built off a seminal finding by Gao and colleagues, published in 2007 in Nature Nanotechnology [DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2007.260], showing that nanoparticles, long believed to be biologically and chemically inert, could in fact possess enzyme-like properties. In that study, Gao showed that an iron oxide nanoparticle behaved similarly to a peroxidase, an enzyme found naturally that catalyzes oxidative reactions, often using hydrogen peroxide.
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:23PM
seriously, the number of links in the summary has to be a record.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:36PM
Boo hoo. Links from the original text should make it into the blockquote.
ANd if you want a record, here you go: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=16/03/25/0429245 [soylentnews.org]
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(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday July 28 2016, @12:40PM
Added some DOIs in there too.
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Thursday July 28 2016, @03:12PM
A little peroxide goes a long way.
BTW: DO NOT NUKE THE BIOME IN YOUR MOUTH!
This is stupid. It is similar in impact, if not particular effects, to wiping out the bacterial matrix in the large intestine.
Most bacterial residents of your body are friendlies, and have co-evolved with us as bipedal mammals. They are essential to our health and proper functioning. Essential digestion of carbohydrates begins with native enzymes and symbiotic oral flora.
Raw dumping of non-biodegrading, waste nano-particulates into water-treatment systems is indicated as the trigger for a huge number of potential environmental problems. Collapse of plankton and krill populations in the oceans - the root of the oceanic food chain and planetary CO2 conversion - are suggested by observations, with detailed study pending.
If "we" decide to make abrasives and catalysts on nano-scales that were not produced by nature and a part of evolutionary biology, why are we yet naive enough to think that introduction of these will not be a biologically disruptive event? Events with possibly catastrophic consequences.
Signed, Dr. Allosaurus
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @11:47PM
I can confirm.
A couple of years ago I thought that it would be a good idea to use antiseptic mouth-rinse. After two weeks or so, black spots started to appear on my tounge. The reason were that helpful bacteria that reduced other bacteria was getting killed, the other bacteria then started to grow. After I stopped using the mouth-rinse, my tounge became normal again.
(Score: 2) by Jeremiah Cornelius on Friday July 29 2016, @12:33AM
This is a non-untypical anecdote.
I personally discovered a counter-intuitive increase in halitosis, by frequent use of Listerine. The bacterial equilibrium was upset, and sulfur-producing bacteria were least affected by antiseptic. It may also be that the beneficial bacteria, which balanced these, were no longer a restraint on the growth of the offending colonists.
You're betting on the pantomime horse...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by jdavidb on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:08PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 5, Informative) by Hyperturtle on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:23PM
This isn't quite the same.
With microbeads, they replaced the silica (sand, essentially, to act as grit for the face) with plastic. Plastic that doesn't break down and clogs municpal water filters and lasts forever.
This is discussing incorporating something of significantly less permanence--iron oxide is rust and using it as an additive will probably react to water similarly to how it already does.
The real issue to me is that a lot of these nano particles are not really well behaved inside the body -- generally, anti-oxidants are used to help prevent age related declines and various body tissue repair needs.
Hydrogen peroxide was already used for tooth bleaching; they must have noticed it killed lots of stuff at the same time. Bleaching of teeth (to whiten them) can cause premature aging of the gums and other areas of the mouth, but few are concerned about this; the mouth heals quickly. I am not aware of any long term studies of the results.
There are, however, studies about what nano particles in the body can do. Not all such nano particles are inherently bad... but usually rust in the body is a problem, and they are suggesting applying it directly inside the mouth.
I would be more concerned about the long term effects of this than I would of your microbead concern. This will break down in the environment--and possibly break down in the body and damage parts of it at the same time. It's killing bacteria and likely doing collateral damage in the neighboring cells.
Previous teeth bleaching/whitening efforts did not use nano particles, and the hydrogen peroxide and other chemicals are at least blocked by the brain/blood barrier, for the most part. Nanoparticles are much smaller and probably are going to get through -- and cause oxidative stresses inside the brain, which would likely be unaccustomed to such visitors.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:32PM
If they're 1/1000th the size, they'll do 1/1000th the damage!!!
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(Score: 2) by Bobs on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:42PM
So now we're going to fill our toothpaste with even smaller microbeads (nanoparticles). What could possibly go wrong?
If they're 1/1000th the size, they'll do 1/1000th the damage!!!
And since they are so much smaller they will get into / affect 1,000^1,000 more things.
I'm really curious about the short and longer term impacts of putting this stuff into a living organism (like me!).
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:16PM
How many of the patients got oral cancer 10 years later?
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:52PM
That entered my mind as well. There have been a few reports on the cellular damage some nanoparticles cause leading to cancer.
(Score: 3, Funny) by wonkey_monkey on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:22PM
Team Uses Nanoparticles to Break Up Plaque and Prevent Cavities
That's great, but my bathroom's a bit too small for a team. And I don't want to leave them standing up in a mug overnight.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Thursday July 28 2016, @01:34PM
Couldn't this screw up the microbiome in your mouth?
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:49PM
My thought exactly, killing bacteria willy-nilly seems likely to have some consequences.
I like sweet things, but also know that sugar promotes tooth decay. So I generally have my sweet in the evening, and then brush my teeth shortly after.
(Score: 1) by Francis on Friday July 29 2016, @04:00AM
Considering that dentists have been implanting known neurotoxins in people's mouths for centuries now and insist upon lying about it, I'd take anything they say with a grain of salt. Those "amalgam" fillings that they've been using since the 19th century aren't so much an amalgam as they are mercury. They're roughly 50% mercury by volume and they don't call them that because people would object to having that crap put in their mouths where it can and does leech into the body.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 28 2016, @02:46PM
I use a metal dental pick from the 99 cents store to mechanically scrape off the plaque.
(Score: 2) by Post-Nihilist on Thursday July 28 2016, @05:48PM
Seriously, ferrous nanoparticules activated peroxide sounds like a bad idea and I says this as a peroxide fan. (no household recipes this time)
They should concentrate themselves on killing the bad bacteria in the mouth biome and leaving the helpfull one in the bio-film...
For more information on how to starve the cavities causing bacteria read my post on tooth paste: https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=14563&cid=376127 [soylentnews.org]
Be like us, be different, be a nihilist!!!
(Score: 2) by Post-Nihilist on Thursday July 28 2016, @05:52PM
Yeah, a bad idea indeed, from the TFA:
Gao had found that the nanoparticles had no catalytic activity at neutral or near-neutral pH of 6.5 or 7, physiological values typically found in blood or in a healthy mouth. But when pH was acidic, closer to 5, they become highly active and can rapidly produce free radicals.
Better not swallow any bit of that toothpaste unless you like to experiment a novel kind of peptic ulcer ....
Be like us, be different, be a nihilist!!!