Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
A systematic review of self-assembling peptide P11-4, a brush-on treatment that uses a remineralization process to regenerate damaged enamel in initial caries lesions, found that the treatment successfully arrested non-cavitated caries lesions and decreased lesion size. The review, published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, assessed whether patients with initial caries lesions treated with P11-4 experienced more caries arrest, less cavitation, or less lesion progression compared to a randomized parallel group.
More Minimally Invasive Dental Treatments Are Needed
Untreated cavitated caries are the most common condition in the Global Burden of Disease, and more effective and simple interventions are needed to increase access to care, improve the patient experience, and lower the cost of care. The authors, including researchers from CareQuest Institute, concluded that self-assembling peptide P11-4 is a “promising treatment for initial caries lesions” in addition to silver diamine fluoride (SDF) and other minimally invasive treatments.
Read the article in the Journal of the American Dental Association (open access)
You may also be interested in:
- Minimally Invasive Care in Dentistry: Healing Tooth Decay with Brush-On Therapies, a self-paced interactive course that introduces several therapeutic techniques for caries management. Participants can earn one free CE credit.
- Provider and Public Perceptions of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF), a visual report that analyzes the effectiveness and the downsides of SDF to arrest caries and prevent new lesions.
- 19 Questions (and Answers) about Brush-On Dental Therapies, a blog post summarizing questions and answers from a webinar with three experts in minimally invasive care, and links to additional resources about minimally invasive care.