Root canals are a pain

Endodontic therapyCourtesy Jellocube27 A new gel could soon eliminate painful root canals. Actually, root canals are the hollow spaces inside teeth where nerves, blood vessels, and pulp fibroblast cells. When these tissues become infected a procedure called endodontic therapy completely removes these tissues, then decontaminates and fills the canal leaving a dead tooth.

Alternative keeps the tooth alive

"A team of French researchers has been working on a new approach that uses nanostructured and functionalized multilayered films to help regenerate teeth and fill in cavities" MedGadget

The scientists showed in laboratory tests alpha-MSH combined with a widely-used polymer produced a material that fights inflammation in dental pulp fibroblasts. American Chemical Society

It works in mice

"So far, the French scientists applied either a film or gel, both of which contained MSH, to cavity-filled mice teeth. After about one month, the cavities had disappeared", (said Benkirane-Jessel via msnbc).

Read the research

The research is described in ACS Nano; Nanostructured Assemblies for Dental Application