The medical industry could be on to something big – very big.
Imagine, no more tooth decay.
Imagine, no more cavities.
Imagine, a vaccine that will eradicate all of it.
Harvard Medical School faculty members say they’ve discovered the basis for a vaccine that could someday end tooth decay in children.
With a painless squirt into the nose during a child’s first few years of life, doctors say their tooth decay vaccine could prevent bacteria from gaining a foothold in the mouth.
As most of us know, rotting teeth are nearly a world epidemic, caused in part by the spread of sugary, carbohydrate-packed foods, including infant formula. In fact, in the United States, cavity-causing germs lie in the mouths of almost half of all children between the ages of five and 17.
The Harvard team hopes its vaccine will make it impossible for cavity-causing germs, otherwise known as dental caries, to stick to teeth to begin with. They say it would trigger long term immunity in saliva and mucous-tissues – not the bloodstream as with other vaccines. The scientists say the antibodies could conceivably provide lifetime immunity.
The next step: human clinical trials.
Stay tuned.
