Chilean scientists discover molecule that kills bacteria that cause cavities

> I've gone months without brushing my teeth

Why?

If you don't get cavities, by not brushing your teeth you will have perfect teeth, on the floor, because your gums went bye bye

Of course, depends on your diet, but for anything resembling modern diet...

Oral health is not about only teeth, you know

I have the same thing actually (a part of my family have perfect teeth even being over 60; i'm not there yet, but almost 40 and my teeth are still perfect in every way), but I do brush my gums (and teeth lightly) daily for hygiene and it just feels better :). I have plaque removed (which I don't have much) every few years as well.

I do think that obsessive brushing 3x / day which people do (after every meal besides breakfast and every morning when getting up) is crazy; I have seem more people ruin their teeth with that than forgetting to brush once in a while.

it's diet too; how much refined sugar do you eat?

I've said things about genes and cavities to the few dentists I've seen in my life. They get so pissy when you do that. And I understand - it's in their interest to have you in their office regularly.

At any rate, I've also known people with nary a cavity. One was a heavy candy eater. It absolutely must be genetic. The dentist can stick his little scraping tool someplace else. I've also known people that seem to do everything right but can't keep from having cavities no matter what. I'm somewhere in the middle: Keep them clean and scrubbed and flossed and I can pretty much stay out of the dentist's chair.

I had the same benefit until I started getting sicker and my immunity stopped. So, you can keep on doing this if your immune system keeps up with you.

Gum disease.

Brush your teeth.

One of the theories behind cavity formation has to do with the pH in a persons mouth being perfect for the bacteria to grow and break down your teeth.

However some people seem to have a pH in their mouths that is not appropriate to bacterial growth and therefore they get less cavities. You probably fall within this group and therefore have a smaller chance of getting cavities.

I think it really is genetic or at least individual to each person. I brush my teeth twice a day. I floss and/or brush lightly after eating. I have very healthy gums and almost no plaque buildup. My dentist told me I don't need to get the professional cleaning that she tries to sell everyone because my teeth are clean and my gums healthy.

But then I get all these cavities and I can't do anything against them and my dentist is as frustrated as I am! My Mom has the same problem. And my Dad never had a cavity. It's all very unfair.

It is quite possible. Bacteria do all sorts of weird and wonderful things to have high genetic diffusion. One of the most interesting is that bacteria will sometimes link up to other bacteria to upload a copy of their genetic codes. (!)

There is a little bit of hope that it could last for a reasonable amount of time, if properly handled. The issue is that organisms can't adapt if the dosage is too high. Usually adapting to a new threat requires, say, a dozen little changes which each improve survival by 5-10%, rather than one monolithic change which improves survival to 100%. Those combinatorics can only work out if most of the bacteria are being destroyed, not if all of them are.

Antibiotics are used this way today. Many people cancel an antibiotic regimen when they feel better, and it's a medical disaster when they do: the antibiotics need to be continued to the point of Total Destruction of all bacteria in your body, which will make you feel weaker, simply so that none of them are naturally selected to have one or two of these 5%-resistance genes.

The same thing happened with DDT and insects. There was a use of DDT -- spraying inside your house -- which had low environmental impact and which insects could not develop resistance to, because the concentrations stay high. This made it amazing as an antimalarial: mosquitoes just always perch on walls and wait until the night comes before they attack, and we could use this to always give them a lethal dosage.

Unfortunately, someone gave DDT to the farmers and then two things happened: (1) DDT got into the food supply for birds, posing serious environmental risks; and (2) insects could now receive a "partial dose" of DDT and develop those sorts of immunities, so now there are DDT-resistant insect populations.

Worse, people exchange mouth bacteria regularly. Provides the perfect rapid evolution landscape to build super bacteria.

So even if perhaps a few % start using it, it might be enough to set off a situation where people that didn't use it get harmed by people that did by acquiring super bacteria that they then have to treat / fight.

That depends entirely on how it works, and how hard it is to adapt to.

Quinine was used to combat malaria for two centuries, and it's still pretty effective. It isn't used as much today because of its side effects, but the fact that it held up as effective for so long is impressive. Some of the modern antimalarial drugs have seen better resistance develop much faster.

It's at least partly a question of how much the bacteria would have to change itself to adapt. I would expect something really targeted -- that kills only that one type of bacteria and not other things (such as you) -- to be more likely to have an exploitable weakness than something that kills everything (e.g., mouthwash).

DOH! I also linked to that book, above, but from Australia Gutenberg.

Only if it is available for cheap in huge quantities as a leftover waste product, I suppose.