?Medicine helps teeth repair themselves

by Anna Matteo/劉健（譯）

□語篇導讀

通常情況下，牙醫會通過去除牙齒受損部分來治療牙洞，即利用異物填補牙洞。最近，英國倫敦國王學院的研究人員發現了一項可取代傳統療法的新方案，那就是利用一種藥物激活牙齒使其自動用牙質填補牙洞，牙齒利用牙質實現自我修復。這是一個巨大的科技進步。

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.”

◆詞語積淀

1.cavity/'k?vIti/n.腔；洞；凹處

2.dentine/'denti:n/n.牙質；齒質

3.sponge/sp?n(d)?/n.海綿；海綿狀物

4.porcelain/'p??s(?)lIn/n.瓷；瓷器

5.regrow/ri?'gr?u/v.再生長；重新生長

6.preventable/prI'vent?bl/adj.可防止的；可阻止的

7.teeth care牙齒保健；美齒護齒

8.in the first place起初；首先；初衷

◆典句賞析

1.They have found a new way that may take the place of the traditional one.他們發現了一項可取代傳統療法的新方案。

這是一個復合句，其中的句子“that may take the place of the traditional one”是由關系代詞that引導的定語從句，修飾先行詞way，that在從句中作主語；take the place of是固定詞組，意為“代替；取代；代理”，后可接名詞、代詞或者動名詞。

【即時嘗試】瓷牙可以取代壞牙嗎？

2.It uses a new kind of medicine that causes the tooth to fill in the cavity naturally with dentine.它利用一種新型藥物激活牙齒自動用牙質填補牙洞。

這是一個復合句，其中的“that causes the tooth to fill in the cavity naturally with dentine”是由關系代詞that引導的定語從句，修飾先行詞medicine，that在從句中作主語；fill with是常見的詞組，意為“填塞；裝滿”，后面接名詞、代詞作賓語。

【即時嘗試】瓶子里裝滿了這種新藥。

（答案見63頁）

譯文助讀

我敢說很少有人愿意看牙醫，尤其是填補牙洞。

通常，牙醫會通過去除牙齒受損部分來治療牙洞。之后再用烤瓷或其他金屬物質填補牙洞。

患者一生中需要時常更換補牙的填充物質。但是，利用異物來填補牙洞真的是最佳治療方案嗎？如果牙齒利用牙質實現自我修復會怎樣呢？

倫敦國王學院的研究人員正在對此進行深入研究。他們發現了一項可取代傳統療法的新方案。研究人員表示，他們即將完善這一治療方案，即實現牙齒自我修復。該療法或許使填補牙洞成為歷史。

國王學院的保羅·夏普說，治療牙洞的新方法簡單。它是一種能激活牙齒的新型藥物，能夠使牙齒自動用牙質填補牙洞。

“需要將這種藥放在一小塊海綿上，接著把海綿放進牙洞中。病人慢慢地將大洞修復完成，這種修復主要依靠天然材質——牙質。”

夏普解釋稱，研究人員使用這種新型藥物修復蛀洞時，會在一顆牙齒中少量地使用。藥物不會進入病人的血液。

奈格爾·卡特將新療法視為牙科護理領域令人興奮的契機。他指出，再生牙齒是一項重大發展。

“不過，我們也必須牢記，我們不應該把牙洞放在首位。我們探討的是一種完全可預防的疾病。”