Loading...

Background

After the Industrial Revolution, the widespread availability of sucrose and highly processed foods led to the caries rate skyrocketing.

Bacteria entombed in the tartar on ancient teeth document the ensuing transition in microbial communities.

Processed foods become softer and cleaner, setting up a perfect storm for caries: less chewing to cut the organic film and fewer dietary abrasives to wear away the nooks and crannies in teeth where Plague bacteria take refuge.

From an evolutionary perspective, there was not enough time for our teeth to adapt to the changes in our oral environment wrought by the introduction of table sugar and processed foods.

According to the World Health Organization estimate, oral diseases affect up to 3.5 billion people in the world.

The severe dental disease, periodontal (gum) disease even affected 47% of adults aged over 30 years.

+0 million

Up to 3500 million people have oral problem

+0 %

47% of adults aged over 30 years have some form of periodontal disease

Moreover, the most serious condition…

Severe periodontal disease was proved to be related to many chronic and cardiovascular diseases.

When there's a lack of proper cleanliness, food pieces, and other fragments will quickly precipitate, forming a biofilm. Dental plaque is biofilm. The bacteria in the biofilm will trigger the deterioration of the periodontal condition.

When the condition worsens, tartar will form. If the condition keeps worsening, the potential of getting the periodontal disease will rise.

The gingiva tissue will be damaged by bacteria in the biofilm. The common consequence includes:

Bacteria will enter blood circulation through the wounds and may cause multiple organ infections.

Not only humans,

many animals, especially human rearing pets also face oral health problems, due to drastic changes in diet.

Therefore, we decided to first focus on the oral health of our furry friends, dogs before we apply our solution to human beings!

Dogs' oral problem

Based on the research, by just three years of age, eighty percent of dogs have some form of periodontal disease. However, the consequences of periodontal disease are not limited to the oral cavity.

+0years

The dogs older than three years old

+0%

Up to 80% of dogs have some form of periodontal disease

Dogs' organ infections

Up to half of the dog patients that have periodontal disease have multiple organ infections.

The bacteria that are found within the mouth of dogs with dental disease are the same as the bacteria that result in heart disease. Additionally, the presence of the periodontal disease has been linked to the risk of heart disease in dogs.

Infection and inflammation within the liver and kidneys can cause signs of systemic infection, and also, interfere with the function of these organs.

According to the statistics of veterinary hospitals in Taipei in 2014s, over thirty seven percent of the deaths of dogs are related to multiple organ failure, cardiovascular disease and renal insufficiency,which probably result from periodontal disease.

%

What is current solution?

Here is the comparison of teeth brushing, teeth cleaning, and dental bone. First, brushing teeth is cheap but plaque and tartar are still ineradicable. And it is also difficult for owners to brush their dogs’ teeth every day. What about teeth cleaning? Although this is the most effective method, it costs nearly 400 US dollars, which is the most expensive method. And it needs general anesthesia to conduct. The prices and risks make some owners refuse to let their dogs use it.

For the dental bone, while it is inexpensive, convenient, and less harmful to dogs, it is less effective and efficient than the other methods above, due to the fact that most of the current dental bones are based on physical friction. This method can only remove the bacteria and food residue from the surface of tooth without adding any antibacterial ingredient.

Because of above methods all have their major shortcomings, the owners' motivation to solve pet's oral problems will decreased.

Let our lovely friend live long in panic!

What is our solution to this problem?

We ameliorate and create a new type of dental bone, DenTeeth.

By using synthesis biology, the brand new method was born.

Detection

One of our main goals is the development of detection that is based on machine learning. Customize the period of time feeding DenTeeth and improve the effect of DenTeeth by detecting the number of bacteria in a single dog's mouth.

Inhibition

In DenTeeth, antimicrobial peptides are used to inhibit the growth of bacteria. We use antimicrobial peptide LL-37, which activates autophagy and leads to cell death.

Reduction of biofilm and odors

Based on previous studies, the bacteria on the teeth surface form biofilms which leads to the formation of tartar. In order to solve this problem, we introduce arginine into our project, which is able to reduce the formation of biofilms and reduce the odors as well.

Restoration

In addition to eliminating the main factor forming oral problems, restoration of teeth and periodontal are also necessary.

After the number of bacteria is below a certain value, the mechanism of restoration will open, several proteins which can repair damaged gingiva or tooth tissue would be expressed.