Oral care of the future: International experts see the benefits of hydroxyapatite

London. A series of presentations focused on the active ingredient hydroxyapatite today at the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), the world's largest conference for dental research. It is striking that this alternative active substance is becoming considerably more important around the world. The years of commitment given by German enamel experts to the active substance is confirmed during discussions with international researchers.

The symposium was organised by Prof. Dr. Bennett T. Amaechi, a cariologist and professor at the University of Texas in San Antonio, USA. The renowned dentist has been researching the broad spectrum of applications of hydroxyapatite for many years. He chose the German chemist Dr. Joachim Enax to be the host of the symposium.

At the most important annual conference for dentistry, the audience in London were given the opportunity to discover more information about the new findings of this active substance and discuss these with researchers from all over the world.

German caries study gains international attention

Hydroxyapatite in at-home oral care products is particularly suitable for three different areas: (1) preventing caries, (2) preventing sensitive teeth and (3) biofilm management and reducing plaque (preventing periodontitis). A clinical study conducted by Prof. Ulrich Schlagenhauf from Würzburg about caries prophylaxis with hydroxyapatite was also a focus at the conference. 1 Prof. Amaechi commented on the results as follows: "Although the present study demonstrated that hydroxyapatite can serve as an alternative to fluoride, hydroxyapatite may be a better choice for children and high caries risk patients since the dosage can be increased to obtain higher efficacy without the risk of fluorosis and toxicity associated with high fluoride dose." The American dentist confirms the equivalence of the hydroxyapatite and the fluoride test group in the caries assessment based on the study results of Schlagenhauf et al.

Dr. med. dent. Barbara Simader (Netherlands) describes another benefit: "The defects of weakened enamel and dentine are repaired and, at the same time, a protective mineral layer is formed to protect against further acid attacks." Hydroxyapatite therefore offers multifunctional properties and many benefits in preventing caries and periodontitis as well as treating sensitive teeth.

 

Abstracts:

 

1 Schlagenhauf, U. et al. Microcrystalline hydroxyapatite is not inferior to fluorides in clinical caries prevention: a randomized, double-blind, non-inferiority trial. bioRxiv, doi:10.1101/306423 (2018).