Plaque-busting nanoparticles could help fight tooth decay

Researchers have developed tiny sphere-shaped particles that ferry a payload of bacteria-slaying drugs to the surface of the teeth, where they fight plaque and tooth decay on the spot.

This is the first time such a technique has been shown to be effective in animals, notes pharmaceutical scientist Dong Wang of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, who was not involved with the research. “That's a huge step forward.”

Because the nanoparticles attach to biofilms instead of just to teeth, they could also bombard biofilms on the tongue or elsewhere in the mouth, where they may have damaging effects on beneficial bacteria.