As Halloween approaches, children are sure to expose their teeth to massive amounts of candy. Lollipops are one of the worst treats for propagating tooth decay. Teeth are literally bathed in sugar as a lollipop is consumed over a longer period of time than most candies. Bacteria in your mouth feed on sugar to create acid, weakening enamel, and infecting teeth with decay. Imagine if there were a Halloween treat you could pass out to the neighborhood children that would actually fight tooth decay. Your Richardson and Dallas dentist, Dr. Truong, explains how an amazing discovery called Keep 32 might impact dentistry, and candy consumption, in the future.
What is Keep 32?
Exciting new research is being conducted by Jose Cordoba of Yale University, and Erich Astudillo of Universidad de Santiago, in Chile, that can potentially eradicate the bacteria that cause cavities. Keep 32 is a chemical that only requires 60 seconds of exposure in the human mouth to kill Streptococcus mutans.The molecule, not only targets S mutans, but could prevent cavities from ever starting in the first place. A bacteria-free environment can be maintained for several hours after the initial 60 second exposure. (more…)