Over time, gleaming teeth become stained by repeated exposure to vices such as coffee, red wine or cigarettes. Current whitening methods include replacing the crown of the tooth or etching off stained enamel using chemical abrasives like hydrogen peroxide. These require the removal of part of a healthy tooth, and can lead to gum irritation and sensitive teeth.
Fluorapatite, polyethylene oxide and a polymer derived from the neurotoxin acrylamide have been combined by Chinese scientists to make a film that can restore teeth to their natural colour.
Read the full story at Chemistry World
PEO-assisted precipitation of human enamel-like fluorapatite films for tooth whitening
Shize Liu, Yujing Yin and Haifeng Chen
CrystEngComm, 2013,15, 5853-5859
DOI: 10.1039/C3CE40388B, Paper
