Can a bacterial virus from Jerusalem sewage prevent root canal infections?

Scientists turn the tables on drug-resistant bacteria by infecting them with bacteriophages (bacterial viruses)

Every year, drug-resistant infections kill more than 50,000 people across Europe and the United States, and hundreds of thousands more around the world. According to the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance commissioned by the UK Prime Minister, failing to address the growing problem of drug-resistant infections could cause 10 million deaths a year and cost up to $100 trillion USD by 2050. (See Antimicrobial Resistance: Tackling a Crisis for the Health and Wealth of Nations)Now, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Faculty of Dental Medicine propose a way to turn the tables on harmful bacteria that infect humans, by infecting them with tiny viruses called bacteriophages. In a strange twist, one such virus, cultivated from Jerusalem sewage, may help prevent infections following dental procedures.Just a few decades ago, antibiotics were considered wonder drugs. Ironically, because they worked so well, they were used too often, leading to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria. These untreatable pathogens evolved mutations enabling them to resist the antibiotics that doctors prescribe to fight them.One such pathogen is Enterococcus faecalis, a bacterium inhabiting the gastrointestinal tracts of humans. This life-threatening pathogen causes diseases ranging fromendocarditis (a potentially fatal heart infection) to bacteremia (harmful bacteria in the bloodstream), as well urinary tract infection, meningitis, and post-treatment root canal infections.

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Durable biomaterial potentially reduces tooth sensitivity

Loss of the enamel layer that covers our teeth results in sensitive teeth and raised risk of cavities, pulp inflammation and other dental diseases. Now, scientists have produced a new biocompatible material that potentially rebuilds worn enamel, reduces tooth sensitivity and is much longer-lasting than current treatments.Chun-Pin Lin, a professor of dentistry at National Taiwan University, and colleagues report how they developed the new material, which they tested on dogs, in the journal ACS Nano.Tooth sensitivity due to loss of enamel is one of the most common dental problems. It not only causes sharp pain and anxiety, but it can herald more serious dental problems.Loss of tooth enamel exposes a layer of softer, porous material called dentine, which is full of thousands of tiny channels or tubules that go deep into the pulp of the tooth where the nerves lie. When dentine tubules are exposed, heat and cold pass more easily to the underlying nerves.Current treatments – such as special toothpastes incorporating sealants – work by blocking the tubules at the exposed dentine surface. But these seals do not last as they get worn away with chewing and brushing.New material generates a ‘biomimetic crystalline dentin barrier’.In their paper, Prof. Lin and his team describe how they made and tested a reliable, fast-acting biocompatible material containing the main elements found in teeth: calcium and phosphorous.

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