A third Generation Dentist by the name of Nathan Cochrane has said to have found a way of regrowing decayed tooth enamel, using the building blocks of enamel: Calcium, Phosphate, and Fluoride. By placing the Calcium, Phosphate, and fluoride in a powerful solution and putting it into a tray he devloped, then placing that tray over your teeth while you sleep. The tooth is then said to absorb the solution from the fitted tray in your mouth, and since there is a tray saliva can't get in to dilute the the solution.
"The localized application of the mineral treatment re-grows the crystals of the tooth, repairing damaged tooth enamel," said Nathan Cochrane, of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Oral Health Science.
"Working as a dentist I see how teeth with fillings in them often weaken," he said. "I wanted to find out whether a chemical process could be used to replace the minerals lost from teeth through decay."
Cochran has been working with Dr. Eric Reynolds, a world renowned expert of tooth remineralization, at the CRC and discovered that a substance isolated from cow's milk could be used to stabilize the calcium, phosphate and fluoride ions, allowing them to diffuse into tooth enamel and embed themselves in the crystal lattice.
"Dentists who have patients showing signs of early decay will be able to prescribe the nightly use of the remineraliation treatment for a given period, potentially avoiding treatments such as fillings and extractions," said Cochrane.
Cochran's system will be outlined at Pathfinders: the Innovators Conference at the National Convention Centre in Canberra May 26.
Sources
http://www.dentistry.co.uk/news/news_detail.php?id=1937
http://www.dent.unimelb.edu.au/dsweb/about_school/staff_profiles/cochrane_n.html
http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Treatment+for+decayed+tooth+enamel+re-grow&artid=BCVWF2xKAUY=&SectionID=I2BV3V4tQCE=&MainSectionID=n35v|01wo4w=&SectionName=2cz5nrWdIi4=&SEO=tooth,%20decay,%20enamel,%20treatment
