Scientists from Zhejiang University in China have developed a gel that restores tooth enamel. The creators hope that their invention will replace a dental filling.

Now, foreign materials are used to fill the teeth. But even the best of them do not attach to the surface of the teeth seamlessly and can fall off. Scientists created a gel containing phosphate and calcium - the elements of which enamel also consists, and tried to stimulate tooth restoration with its help.

Tests were performed on teeth removed from patients. A gel was applied to them and left in containers with a liquid that simulated the environment of the oral cavity. For 48 hours, the gel stimulated the growth of new enamel, with the same highly ordered arrangement of phosphate and calcium crystals as in the “native” enamel. True, the thickness of the enamel grown during this time was only three microns (that is, 0.003 mm), but the creators do not see this as a big problem: the gel can be applied many times.

Now the invention is tested on laboratory mice. The development team expects to soon test it on people.