Researchers in California have discovered that nanodiamonds, a by-product of conventional mining and refining operations, which are approximately 4-5 nanometres in diameter and shaped like tiny footballs, have significant bone regenerating capabilities which may have applications in medicine and dentistry; specifically in implants.
The team discovered that using nanodiamonds to deliver growth proteins and fibroblast growth factor to bone can improve healing and help regeneration in the case of bone necrosis. Incorporating them in the placement of dental implants may help give them greater strength and longevity.
The trouble is that even with the current cost of implants made from titanium being regarded as expensive treatment options, what happens when we suggests adding diamonds as well? Especially, and here’s the rub, as the miniscule gems are invisible to the naked eye.
Healthy developments
I suppose we will never end the quest for better and quicker oral hygiene until there is an ‘instant’ method of eliminating the roguish biofilm that is plaque. The latest entrant to the fray is the possibility of using arginine, a compound found naturally in meat and cheese, for reducing tooth sensitivity and a new type of toothbrush which its manufacturers claim can clean teeth in just six seconds.
The Blizzident toothbrush uses dental scans and a 3D printer to create a bespoke brush for every customer. Each brush contains 400 bristles shaped to fit the mouth and requires the wearer to grind their teeth in order to clean them. Sounding something like a cross between an in-mouth car wash and an oral massage, it will of course need the mandatory research
before we all start ‘blizzing’ but it does make one think that one day all we will need is a magic wand and a Harry Potter-like spell.
Blowing cold
As we enter the annual Mouth Cancer Awareness month once again, it is salient to learn that the Government has decided not to offer the vaccine that protects against the HPV virus to teenage boys in the UK. It is currently offered to their female classmates on the basis that the virus is implicated via oral sex in the causation of various cancers, including oral cancer. The president of the Faculty of Public Health is urging ministers to extend the offer of jabs to 12- and 13-year-old boys to tackle the growing number of cancers it causes. “It is important we give our children and young people all the information they need so they fully understand what safe sex is. That’s why it makes sense to give teenage boys as well as girls the HPV vaccine, which is already
happening in Australia”, he says.
Is it an evidence-based decision or is it a throwback to the days of ‘No Sex Please We’re British’ when we thought that ‘oral sex’ just meant talking about it?