New product creates “tooth-like layer” on sensitive teeth…can that be good?

I’m going to file this one under: I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.

Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline has developed a new item for their Sensodyne line of products for sensitive teeth. It’s called Sensodyne Repair and Protect with NovaMin technology.

Dental Supplier News reports that NovaMin helps to “fix” sensitive areas on teeth by “forming a tooth-like layer over exposed dentine.”

Hmmm…a “tooth-like layer” somehow sounds more like a Hollywood make-up trick than a solution.

NovaMin was originally designed to stimulate bone regeneration. So reading between the lines, what we’ve got here appears to be a failed osteoporosis drug.

But did it fail because it laid down layer after “tooth-like” layer, creating enlarged “tooth-like” bones?

Or did it maybe raise the risk of bone fracture, like a certain bisphosphonate drug named Boniva, which happens to be co-produced by GSK?

Either way…not in MY mouth, thank you!

Sources:
“GlaxoSmithKline to launch new toothpaste with NovaMin technology” Dental Supplier News, 3/3/11, zenopa.com