New toothpaste ingredient hardens teeth while you sleep

The BioMinF toothpaste is now available online and from specialist dental distributors, and expected to be available through high street stores by the end of the year.

Dental decay is the most prevalent disease worldwide and tooth decay and sensitivity is estimated to affect 13.5 million people in the UK alone.

The new BioMinF toothpaste ingredient provides a new tooth repair technology which is able to slowly release calcium, phosphate and fluoride ions over an 8-12 hour timeframe. This forms fluorapatite mineral to rebuild, strengthen and protect tooth structure. The slow release of fluoride has been identified to be particularly beneficial in prevention of tooth decay.

Professor Robert Hill, Chair of Dental Physical Sciences at QMUL, who led the development team, said: “Using remineralising toothpaste makes teeth far more resistant to attack from acidic soft drinks like fruit juices and sodas. It is also much more effective than conventional toothpastes where the active ingredients, such as soluble fluoride, are washed away and become ineffective less than two hours after brushing.

“This breakthrough innovation could significantly reduce dental decay and also tooth sensitivity problems which are often experienced by people eating or drinking something cold."

Professor Hill has co-founded BioMin Technologies which aims to commercialise the development.

Richard Whatley, Chief Executive of BioMin Technologies, said: “We are very excited by the prospects of developing the patented technology which has been licensed from Queen Mary University of London and Imperial College. We are in the process of establishing licencing agreements with toothpaste and dental materials manufacturers around the world. Our aim is for the BioMin brand to become synonymous for the treatment of tooth sensitivity in the eyes of both the dental profession and the general public.”

The technology behind BioMin can also be incorporated in other professionally applied dental products such as cleaning and polishing pastes, varnishes and remineralising filling materials.

A fluoride free version of BioMin is also being developed for individuals who do not want or need fluoride toothpaste.

BioMinF is available from dental practices and distributors now or via www.biomin.co.uk.

More information

• BioMin website
• QMUL’s Institute of Dentistry