Have you ever had the experience that when you look in the mirror, you suddenly find strange little white spots on your teeth, and some orthodontic treatment patients, after removing the brackets, will also find chalky white patches around the brackets. In fact, these are the signals of early caries, that is, the teeth demineralization, if not timely intervention, will gradually develop into our common cavities (that is, caries), hot and cold pain, cavities to reach the nerve, but also need to carry out the “pumping the nerve” treatment, and in serious cases, the teeth may need to be extracted.

　　The outermost layer of the tooth is the hard enamel, mainly composed of hydroxyapatite, like a layer of strong armor for the teeth, protecting the internal structure of the teeth. Under normal circumstances, enamel has a smooth, translucent surface that gives it a healthy shine. However, when the oral environment changes, such as eating too many sweets, drinking a lot of acidic beverages without timely cleaning of the mouth, the bacteria in the mouth will take the opportunity to reproduce a large number of acidic substances, dissolving the minerals in the enamel. That is, the phenomenon of demineralization occurs, the original transparent enamel will become white plaque. Orthodontic patients because of orthodontic appliances (such as brackets, wires, etc.) attached to the surface of the teeth, increasing the difficulty of cleaning, but also provide a breeding ground for bacteria, which is very likely to lead to the occurrence of enamel white spots. Early caries, if not timely intervention, will gradually develop into our common cavities.

　　What can we do in the face of these annoying chalky spots?

　　Remineralization treatment can help us “save” the “white spots” on our teeth. Simply put, it allows the demineralized enamel to regrow minerals and remineralize again, restoring the hardness and structure of the tooth, thus terminating or eliminating early caries. For example, fluoride, as we know it, plays a very important role in remineralization treatment. Fluoride ions can combine with hydroxyapatite in tooth enamel to form fluorapatite, which is more resistant to acid and can effectively enhance the caries resistance of tooth enamel. However, fluoride-induced restorations are somewhat different from natural teeth, so researchers aspire to find better “fake to real” remineralization materials.

　　Calcium phosphate, which is chemically similar to natural enamel, is considered ideal for remineralization treatments. However, traditional calcium phosphate materials are not able to meet the demand for quick dental restorations due to their harsh conditions of use and the fact that restorations often take hours or even days to complete. These problems are like a “chasm” that is difficult to cross. So, is there a material that can break through these limitations and realize fast and efficient enamel restoration?

　　Recently, the team of Chen Xi, chief physician of the Department of Preventive Dentistry of the Ninth People's Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, together with the group of Chen Feng, researcher of the Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Fudan University, and Lu Bingqiang, associate researcher of the Tenth People's Hospital affiliated to Tongji University, have published a paper in Nature Communications, which reports a miraculous material - glycerol-stabilized Glycerol stabilized calcium phosphate clusters (GCPC), a miraculous material that provides an efficient solution for tooth remineralization therapy. The size of this calcium phosphate cluster is very small, only 1-2 nanometers, like an extremely tiny “nano elf”, in the saliva environment, the new material will form amorphous calcium phosphate nanoparticles and other minerals, which are like “building materials” for restoring tooth enamel. ”, which can be transformed into tightly packed hydroxyapatite nanorods within 30 minutes on the surface of the tooth, similar to the crystal structure in natural tooth enamel, thus accomplishing rapid restoration. This water-triggered transformation property allows the new material to activate the restoration mechanism as quickly as it encounters water, depending on the actual need, which greatly improves the restoration efficiency. The researchers initiated and carried out clinical trials at the same time, initially proving the clinical safety of the product and the effectiveness of the product in repairing the shape and hardness of demineralized tooth enamel in the real human oral environment.

　　Perhaps in the near future, the new material is expected to be widely used in clinical caries prevention, early caries remineralization treatment, enamel wear repair and other fields, becoming a competent “assistant” to the dentist; also in daily life, for caries-prone populations to provide efficient enamel care products to prevent enamel demineralization.