UCLA Mouthwash Could Put the Hurt on Dentists

A mouthwash that wipes out cavity-causing bacteria has been concocted by a UCLA microbiologist, the school reports.

The formula works like a targeted smart bomb against cavities, and could eliminate tooth decay from human beings "within our lifetime," the school says.

A small-scale test on a dozen people found that rinsing just once with the  mouthwash caused a near-complete elimination of "S. mutans"' bacteria over a four-day testing period.

That particular strain of bacteria is one of millions that coexist in the human body, but is believed exclusively responsible for tooth decay. Americans spend more than $70 billion per year on dental services, the majority involving cavities caused by S. mutans.

Dr. Wenyuan Shi, chairman of the UCLA School of Dentistry's oral biology section, has been working on the mouthwash for 12 years, with financial support from mouthwash manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive and C3-Jian, a company he founded around patent rights licensed to him by UCLA.

Shi said his mouthwash, currently called C16G2, acts as a "smart bomb" only against the cavity-causing bacteria in the human mouth. "With this new antimicrobial technology, we may have the prospect of actually wiping out tooth decay in our lifetime,'' Sji said in a UCLA news release.

The dentistry school's dean, Dr. No-Hee Park, said, "The work conducted by Dr. Shi's laboratory will transform the concept of targeted antimicrobial therapy into reality.

"We are proud that UCLA will become known as the birthplace of this significant treatment innovation," he said.

The FDA is expected to begin clinical trials in March. If it approves the mouthwash for general use, it would be the first anticavity drug since fluoride was licensed nearly 60 years ago, UCLA said.

—City News Service