Can teeth rebuild themselves? A new gel could make it possible

A new gel developed by a team of scientists does something dentists have long wished for – it repairs and regenerates tooth enamel.

Applied in minutes like a routine fluoride varnish – but without any fluoride at all – the protein-based material seeds fresh, organized mineral right where enamel has been worn thin or lost. 

The work, led by the University of Nottingham, points to preventive and restorative treatments that don’t just mask damage but rebuild the tissue that protects our teeth.

How the tooth gel works

Enamel’s strength comes from tightly packed hydroxyapatite crystals, grown under the guidance of specialized proteins during infancy.

Once mature, enamel is biologically “quiet.” It doesn’t regrow after erosion from acids, abrasion, or decay. 

The Nottingham team mimicked those early life protein cues with a bioinspired polymer that anchors to the tooth surface and acts like scaffolding.

When painted onto demineralized enamel, it seeps into microcracks and pores, hardens into a thin, robust layer, and begins directing calcium and phosphate from saliva into orderly crystal growth.

That crystallization process is called epitaxial mineralization. It matters because the new mineral doesn’t form as a random crust. It aligns with the underlying enamel’s lattice, integrating into the native structure. 

Building healthy teeth

In lab images, eroded apatite crystals look ragged and sparse. Two weeks after treatment, those same areas show dense, oriented crystals that resemble healthy enamel.

The team reports that the regenerated layer recovers both the structure and the properties that make enamel tough.

The gel also grips dentine, the sensitive layer beneath enamel. On dentine, it grows an enamel-like cap that can reduce hypersensitivity and create a friendlier surface for bonding crowns, inlays, or fillings.

That dual action could simplify care for patients with generalized wear, cervical lesions, or post-whitening sensitivity.

“Dental enamel has a unique structure, which gives enamel its remarkable properties that protect our teeth throughout life against physical, chemical, and thermal insults,” said study lead author Abshar Hasan, a postdoctoral fellow at Nottingham. 

“When our material is applied to demineralized or eroded enamel, or exposed dentine, the material promotes the growth of crystals in an integrated and organized manner, recovering the architecture of our natural healthy enamel.”

Why this gel is different

Nearly half the world’s population experiences problems tied to enamel loss. The consequences range from pain and infection to tooth loss, and enamel damage also tracks with broader health burdens, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 

Current options don’t rebuild enamel. Fluoride varnishes help harden what’s left and encourage superficial remineralization.

Desensitizing agents plug tubules. Remineralizing creams may reduce sensitivity and add a bit of mineral. But none organize a new enamel layer that fuses with the tooth and restores its mechanical behavior.

The Nottingham gel takes a different route. It supplies the “instruction manual,” not the bricks. Your saliva holds the raw materials.

The gel provides the blueprint that tells those ions how and where to assemble. In testing that simulated brushing, chewing, and repeated acid exposures, the repaired areas behaved like native enamel.

“We have tested the mechanical properties of these regenerated tissues under conditions simulating ‘real-life situations’ such as tooth brushing, chewing, and exposure to acidic foods, and found that the regenerated enamel behaves just like healthy enamel,” Hasan explained.

Versatility of the tooth gel

The protocol is familiar to any dental practice: isolate, dry, apply, wait briefly, and send the patient home. No drilling. No lights. No complex equipment.

Because the material is fluoride-free and protein-based, it slots alongside existing preventive care for patients of all ages.

The researchers emphasize scalability and versatility, suggesting the same chemistry could power chairside gels, take-home coatings, liners beneath restorations, or even targeted treatments for white spot lesions after orthodontics.

“We are very excited because the technology has been designed with the clinician and patient in mind. It is safe, can be easily and rapidly applied, and it is scalable,” said Alvaro Mata, the chair in biomedical engineering & biomaterials at Nottingham. 

“Also, the technology is versatile, which opens the opportunity to be translated into multiple types of products to help patients of all ages suffering from a variety of dental problems associated with loss of enamel and exposed dentine.” 

Mata noted that with the team’s start-up company Mintech-Bio, the hope is to have a first product out next year, which means this innovation could soon be helping patients worldwide.

Future research directions

As with any breakthrough materials, the path from bench to bathroom mirror runs through safety and performance studies in real people. 

Key questions include how thick the regenerated layer can become and how often applications should be repeated for high risk patients.

In addition, the scientists will investigate how the gel performs across different saliva chemistries and diets, and how it interacts with common materials like composites and glass ionomers. 

Because epitaxial growth relies on ionic supply, results may vary with salivary flow. Dry mouth patients might need paired strategies to restore mineral reservoirs.

Still, the promise is there: a quick, painless treatment that restores the tooth’s first line of defense by recruiting the body’s own chemistry.

It’s preventive when applied to vulnerable enamel, restorative when laid over damaged zones, and supportive when used to cap exposed dentine.

Enamel doesn’t normally get second chances. This gel offers one.

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

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