❹Medicine helps teeth repair themselves

by Anna Matteo/刘健（译）

□语篇导读

通常情况下，牙医会通过去除牙齿受损部分来治疗牙洞，即利用异物填补牙洞。最近，英国伦敦国王学院的研究人员发现了一项可取代传统疗法的新方案，那就是利用一种药物激活牙齿使其自动用牙质填补牙洞，牙齿利用牙质实现自我修复。这是一个巨大的科技进步。

I am going to take a chance and say that very few people enjoy going to the dentist,especially for a filling.

A dentist usually treats a cavity by removing the bad part of the tooth.And then they fill the cavity with porcelain or metals.

Usually fillings need to be changed during the patient’s lifetime.But is filling the cavity with a foreign thing really the best treatment?What if the tooth could repair itself with its own dentine?

That is what researchers at King’s College London are studying deeply.They have found a new way that may take the place of the traditional one.Researchers say they may be close to perfecting a way of helping teeth to repair themselves.They say the treatment may make the filling of a cavity a thing of the past.

Paul Sharpe of King’s College says a new treatment for cavities is simple.It uses a new kind of medicine that causes the tooth to fill in the cavity naturally with dentine.

“It needs putting the medicine on a little sponge that goes inside the tooth,in the cavity that the dentist made.The patient gradually gets the big cavity repaired and the repair is a production of the natural dentine.”

Sharpe explainsthatwhen using thisnew medicine to repair cavities,researchers use a little and just in a tooth.It does not travel through the patient’s blood.

Nigel Carter describes the new treatment as an exciting possibility for teeth care.He notes that regrowing a tooth would be an important development.

“But,it’s also important that we should remember that we shouldn’t be getting the cavity in the first place.We’re talking about a preventable illness.”

◆词语积淀

1.cavity/'kævIti/n.腔；洞；凹处

2.dentine/'denti:n/n.牙质；齿质

3.sponge/spʌn(d)ʒ/n.海绵；海绵状物

4.porcelain/'pɔːs(ə)lIn/n.瓷；瓷器

5.regrow/riː'grəu/v.再生长；重新生长

6.preventable/prI'ventəbl/adj.可防止的；可阻止的

7.teeth care牙齿保健；美齿护齿

8.in the first place起初；首先；初衷

◆典句赏析

1.They have found a new way that may take the place of the traditional one.他们发现了一项可取代传统疗法的新方案。

这是一个复合句，其中的句子“that may take the place of the traditional one”是由关系代词that引导的定语从句，修饰先行词way，that在从句中作主语；take the place of是固定词组，意为“代替；取代；代理”，后可接名词、代词或者动名词。

【即时尝试】瓷牙可以取代坏牙吗？

2.It uses a new kind of medicine that causes the tooth to fill in the cavity naturally with dentine.它利用一种新型药物激活牙齿自动用牙质填补牙洞。

这是一个复合句，其中的“that causes the tooth to fill in the cavity naturally with dentine”是由关系代词that引导的定语从句，修饰先行词medicine，that在从句中作主语；fill with是常见的词组，意为“填塞；装满”，后面接名词、代词作宾语。

【即时尝试】瓶子里装满了这种新药。

（答案见63页）

译文助读

我敢说很少有人愿意看牙医，尤其是填补牙洞。

通常，牙医会通过去除牙齿受损部分来治疗牙洞。之后再用烤瓷或其他金属物质填补牙洞。

患者一生中需要时常更换补牙的填充物质。但是，利用异物来填补牙洞真的是最佳治疗方案吗？如果牙齿利用牙质实现自我修复会怎样呢？

伦敦国王学院的研究人员正在对此进行深入研究。他们发现了一项可取代传统疗法的新方案。研究人员表示，他们即将完善这一治疗方案，即实现牙齿自我修复。该疗法或许使填补牙洞成为历史。

国王学院的保罗·夏普说，治疗牙洞的新方法简单。它是一种能激活牙齿的新型药物，能够使牙齿自动用牙质填补牙洞。

“需要将这种药放在一小块海绵上，接着把海绵放进牙洞中。病人慢慢地将大洞修复完成，这种修复主要依靠天然材质——牙质。”

夏普解释称，研究人员使用这种新型药物修复蛀洞时，会在一颗牙齿中少量地使用。药物不会进入病人的血液。

奈格尔·卡特将新疗法视为牙科护理领域令人兴奋的契机。他指出，再生牙齿是一项重大发展。

“不过，我们也必须牢记，我们不应该把牙洞放在首位。我们探讨的是一种完全可预防的疾病。”