Any one can comment on this article and its' potential effect on BLTI
long term potential in Europe?
“Dentists in Sweden are using gel. not drill, on tooth decay” Jim Heintz Associated Press
Patients re winning a reprieve from the dreaded dentist's drill under a technique being tested in Sweden to dissolve tooth decay with a gel. About 1,000 people have undergone the treatment, and the program is being expanded to about 500 dentists, the gel's manufacturer, Medi Team of Goteborg, said Friday.
The gel, called Carisolv, is the latest in a series of efforts to comfort those traumatized by the whining, grinding dentist's drill. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year approved the use of a laser system for treating tooth decay that tests showed significantly reduced patients' pain and discomfort.
Carisolv, a mixture of three amino acids and sodium hhypochloride, dissolves decayed material in about a minute. The residue is then brushed away, said Irene Herrmann, clinical research director. “Some patients have a little sensation,” but far less than with drilling, she said. Kate Cinamon, a spokeswoman for the British Dental Association, called Carisolv “a welcome development.” Medi Team plans to market it in Britain and other parts of Europe if the Swedish tests continue to go well, Herrmann said. There are no plans yet to market it in the United States, she said. Ken Burrell, director the American Dental Association's scientific affairs council, said the ADA is aware of the tests but has not seen enough clinical data to make an assessment of the treatment. Prime concerns would be whether the gel dissolves all decayed matter and whether its use would irritate tooth roots, he said. The gel cannot be used for cavities that form under fillings. But those cavities are often relatively far away from nerves. Another decay-dissolving gel, called Caridex, got wide attention in the United States in the 1980's. But it slipped from view in recent years. Herrman said many dentists had been unhappy with Caridex because it destroyed some healthy tooth matter as well as decay. |
