Tooth problems have plagued mankind for millennia. We’ve gotten much better at it in the past century or so, but when a cavity breaks through your enamel, the approach is still simplistic: we drill, we fill, we patch.
But what if we didn’t have to?
In a remarkable study led by researchers from King’s College London, scientists showed that a new type of toothpaste can help your teeth heal themselves without any drills or synthetic fillings. The secret is keratin: the toughh fibrous protein found in hair and wool.
Image credits: KCL.
Dental enamel is the hardest substance in the human body. It protects our teeth through decades of chewing, crunching, and acidic attacks. But here’s the catch: when it’s gone, it’s gone. It has no blood flow or healing powers. That’s why early enam…
Tooth problems have plagued mankind for millennia. We’ve gotten much better at it in the past century or so, but when a cavity breaks through your enamel, the approach is still simplistic: we drill, we fill, we patch.
But what if we didn’t have to?
In a remarkable study led by researchers from King’s College London, scientists showed that a new type of toothpaste can help your teeth heal themselves without any drills or synthetic fillings. The secret is keratin: the toughh fibrous protein found in hair and wool.
Image credits: KCL.
Dental enamel is the hardest substance in the human body. It protects our teeth through decades of chewing, crunching, and acidic attacks. But here’s the catch: when it’s gone, it’s gone. It has no blood flow or healing powers. That’s why early enamel erosion eventually leads to cavities, drilling, and fillings. And that cycle continues until the tooth fails completely.
“Unlike bones and hair, enamel does not regenerate, once it is lost, it’s gone forever,” says Sherif Elsharkawy, senior author and consultant in prosthodontics at King’s College London
Acidic foods and drinks, poor oral hygiene, and bacteria can all contribute to enamel erosion. In time, this leads to pain and tooth sensitivity, and even tooth loss. Traditional treatments manage symptoms. They don’t solve the root problem. At best, fluoride can remineralize superficial damage. At worst, we’re left with invasive interventions.
But the team behind this study developed a completely different approach. Instead of patching enamel, they decided to regrow it. They created a water-based film made of keratin extracted from sheep wool and engineered it to behave like the scaffolding that supports natural enamel growth during tooth development. The idea is to give enamel-depleted teeth a protein-based framework to build on, then soak it in a mineral-rich solution and let biology do the rest.
It worked.
How this works
Image credits: KCL.
The researchers started with wool-derived keratin and turned it into a transparent, flexible film. This film self-assembles into radial crystalline structures that resemble the arrangement of early enamel. When placed over early-stage enamel lesions (the kind you get from acidic food or poor brushing), these films provided an ideal surface for new crystals to grow. Over time, this scaffold continues to attract calcium and phosphate ions, which leads to the growth of a protective enamel-like coating. It’s not enamel, but it’s close to it.
The keratin responding to the chemical environment turned out to be key. This protein matrix not only attracted the ions, but also guided them into forming needle-like crystals that grow like natural enamel rods. In mere days, these crystals filled the microscopic gaps in the decayed animals. By day 30, keratin-coated samples had dense, ordered layers with properties similar to the natural tooth enamel.
For now, this method has proven effective in lab tests. Researchers will soon start human tests to show their technology is safe and effective in real-life situations. The team is confident.
“Keratin offers a transformative alternative to current dental treatments. Not only is it sustainably sourced from biological waste materials like hair and skin, it also eliminates the need for traditional plastic resins, commonly used in restorative dentistry, which are toxic and less durable. Keratin also looks much more natural than these treatments, as it can more closely match the colour of the original tooth,” says Sara Gamea, PhD researcher at King’s College London and first author of the study.
A new era for tooth repair
Before (left) and after (right) the treatent. Image credits: KCL
If this research pans out, it could mark the beginning of a new paradigm in dentistry: bio-regeneration instead of mechanical repair. In essence, you’re giving your body the tools to work the magic itself.
In this sense, the keratin toothpaste is particularly exciting. For starters, water-based and uses no harsh solvents. It’s also biocompatible, and keratin is already used in the treatment of some wounds.
What remains are human trials. The researchers will need to prove that their enamel-regenerating films are safe, effective, and durable in real mouths—not just lab models. There’s also the question of long-term performance. Will this regrown enamel last as long as the real thing?
For now, the prospects are encouraging, concludes Dr Elsharkawy concluded: “We are entering an exciting era where biotechnology allows us to not just treat symptoms but restore biological function using the body’s own materials. With further development and the right industry partnerships, we may soon be growing stronger, healthier smiles from something as simple as a haircut.”
The study was published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.