Latest news with #dentalfloss
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
New Kind of Dental Floss Could Replace Vaccine Needles, Study Finds
A fear of needles is a common reason for avoiding vaccines, even among many adults. Now researchers have come up with a rather clever alternative: dental floss. Led by a team from Texas Tech University, the researchers first identified an often overlooked surface in the mouth as an entry point for vaccines: the junctional epithelium (JE), which sits where the gums meet the teeth. The JE is leaky by design, because it allows immune cells to move around and defend the oral cavity from bacterial attack. The researchers wondered whether this could also make this part of the mouth a suitable target for vaccines. "We hypothesized that this leakiness of the JE could expedite the entry of vaccine antigens, and the abundance of immune cells in this microenvironment could elicit an adaptive immune response," the researchers write in their recently published paper. Related: Delivering medications to the JE is complicated by the tissue's seclusion within the gumline, which is why it hasn't really been considered as a potential location for introducing vaccines. That's where floss comes in, which is perfect for getting into tight spaces. The researchers tested their hypothesis by coating dental floss with different types of vaccines and testing them on mice across a period of several weeks. There were numerous encouraging indicators: strong immune responses were observed in the mouth and throughout the bodies of the mice, and the floss vaccine was effective in protecting mice against a later flu infection. Further tests were conducted on human volunteers using dye rather than a vaccine, since clinical trials are still some way off. The amount of dye that reached the JE target via flossing was enough to suggest that this really could work in us too. "These findings establish floss-based vaccination as a simple, needle-free strategy that enhances vaccine delivery and immune activation compared with existing mucosal immunization methods," write the researchers. It's not the first time scientists have looked beyond the thorough cleaning job that floss does. Earlier this year research showed that floss could also be adapted to measure stress levels in the body, potentially giving doctors another useful diagnostic tool. As well as being potentially less scary for those with a phobia of needles, floss-based vaccines would be easier to transport and store. Doctors and nurses wouldn't be needed to administer them, and they could even be delivered in the post – a real advantage in the case of pandemics such as COVID-19. Researchers have previously tried to deliver vaccines orally under the tongue and in the cheek, but not enough of the vaccine penetrates the tissue into circulation. While there's still a lot of work to do with this new approach, the potential is clear. "Due to drawbacks associated with injectable vaccines, such as pain and needle phobia, potential transmission of blood-borne pathogens from unsafe injection practices and the limited activation of mucosal immunity, there is a need for alternative approaches for vaccine delivery," write the researchers. The research has been published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. Related News World's Most Common Pain Relief Drug May Induce Risky Behavior, Research Suggests Human Brains Rapidly Aged in The Pandemic, And It Wasn't Just The Virus Eating Eggs Can Actually Lower Bad Cholesterol, New Study Says Solve the daily Crossword
Fox News
a day ago
- Health
- Fox News
Could dental floss be the next vaccine method? Scientists say it could work
Dental floss could eventually do much more than improve oral hygiene. A new study led by Texas Tech University and the University of North Carolina suggests that the thin filament could eventually double as a vaccine mechanism. In animal models, the researchers showed that dental floss can effectively release vaccines through the tissue between the teeth and gums, according to a press release. In the study, the flossing technique triggered the production of antibodies in "mucosal surfaces," such as the lining of the nose and lungs, the release stated. The findings were published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. "Mucosal surfaces are important, because they are a source of entry for pathogens, such as influenza and COVID," said co-author Harvinder Singh Gill, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at North Carolina State University, in the release. With the traditional method of injecting vaccines, the antibodies are primarily produced in the bloodstream, he noted. "But we know that when a vaccine is given via the mucosal surface, antibodies are stimulated not only in the bloodstream, but also on mucosal surfaces," said Gill. "This improves the body's ability to prevent infection, because there is an additional line of antibody defense before a pathogen enters the body." The vaccine enters through the "junctional epithelium," which is a thin layer of tissue in the deep pocket between the tooth and the gum. This tissue doesn't have the same barrier as other tissue linings, which means it can release immune cells into the body. In the study, the researchers added a peptide flu vaccine to unwaxed dental floss before flossing the teeth of lab mice, according to the release. Next, they compared the effectiveness of the floss-delivered vaccine to techniques that delivered it nasally or orally. "It would be easy to administer, and it addresses concerns many people have about being vaccinated with needles." "We found that applying vaccine via the junctional epithelium produces a far superior antibody response on mucosal surfaces than the current gold standard for vaccinating via the oral cavity, which involves placing vaccine under the tongue," said first author Rohan Ingrole, a Ph.D. student at Texas Tech University. "The flossing technique also provides comparable protection against the flu virus as compared to the vaccine being given via the nasal epithelium." In addition to flu, the test was repeated for three other vaccine types: proteins, inactivated viruses and mRNA. For all types, the flossing technique produced "robust antibody responses in the bloodstream and across mucosal surfaces," the release stated. Next, the research team aims to test the effectiveness of vaccine delivery to the epithelial junction in humans through the use of floss picks, which are easier to hold. "It would be easy to administer, and it addresses concerns many people have about being vaccinated with needles," Gill said. "And we think this technique should be comparable in price to other vaccine delivery techniques." Hua Wang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois' Grainger College of Engineering, was not involved in the study but shared his reaction to the findings. "This study presents a promising floss-based vaccination method that can avoid needle injection or any potentially painful procedure," he told Fox News Digital. "The authors demonstrated that vaccine components in the floss coating can penetrate the junctional epithelium in gingival sulcus and reach the underlying tissues, leading to systemic antibody responses." The floss-based vaccination method could help to improve patient compliance if it goes through the full evaluation process, he noted. There are some limitations and drawbacks associated with floss-based vaccines, the researchers acknowledged. Babies and toddlers who don't have teeth yet wouldn't be candidates for the technique, for example. "In addition, we would need to know more about how or whether this approach would work for people who have gum disease or other oral infections," Gill added. Wang agreed that many questions remain to be answered about this experimental vaccination method. "In addition to the unclear impact of gingival tissue infection on vaccination, the local and systemic side effects of this vaccination method remain to be understood," he told Fox News Digital. "For example, vaccination at the gingival tissue may initiate local inflammation that eventually induces undesirable side effects." It's also not yet clear what exact path the vaccine components follow when traveling from the tooth site to the tissues or how the immune responses are generated, Wang noted. For more Health articles, visit "Lastly, from the translation perspective, the efficacy of floss-based vaccines would need to be comparable to conventional needle-based vaccines." The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and by funds from the Whitacre Endowed Chair in Science and Engineering at Texas Tech University.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Floss-based vaccine delivers flu antibodies to bone marrow, saliva, and more
Flossing might soon do more than protect your teeth. Scientists have developed a new vaccine delivery method that uses specialized dental floss to trigger an immune response, without the need for needles. In the study, researchers tested the novel technique by applying vaccine components such as proteins and inactivated viruses along the gum lines of mice. The floss-based approach effectively stimulated immunity and protected the rodents from a lethal flu strain. Flossing mice for science The team flossed 50 mice every two weeks over a 28-day period. One researcher gently pulled down each mouse's jaw using a keychain ring, while another flossed the gums with vaccine-laced strands. After four weeks and three flossing sessions, the mice faced a lethal dose of influenza. All of the vaccinated mice survived. Those that hadn't received the floss-based vaccine died. Researchers found signs of a systemic immune response in the flossed mice. Flu-fighting antibodies appeared in their feces, saliva, and bone marrow. That last discovery was key, antibodies in bone marrow suggest long-term immunity. The vaccinated group also showed elevated T cell levels in their lungs and spleens. T cells help the body destroy virus-infected cells and prevent future infections. The results suggest this flossing method doesn't just offer local protection in the mouth, but activates a strong immune response throughout the body, something that traditional mucosal vaccines have struggled to achieve. Testing for human feasibility To explore whether the technique might work in people, scientists recruited 27 healthy adults. Each participant used dental picks coated in food dye. On average, the dye reached gum tissue in about 60% of flossing attempts. That level of contact shows potential, though further refinement is needed for consistent delivery. The gums between teeth are highly permeable, which allows vaccine molecules to pass through more easily than skin or other tissues. The oral cavity is also a frontline entry point for viruses. But developing vaccines for the mouth and nose has proven difficult due to the body's natural resistance to foreign agents in these regions. Floss, however, might offer a way to bypass those defenses. 'These findings establish floss-based vaccination as a simple, needle-free strategy that enhances vaccine delivery and immune activation compared with existing mucosal immunization methods,' wrote the researchers. Pandemic-ready and needle-free Beyond effectiveness, this method offers practical advantages. Needle-phobic patients may be more willing to receive vaccines delivered via floss. The treatment also doesn't require cold-chain storage, which simplifies distribution. Floss-based vaccines could even be mailed to households during outbreaks, enabling faster, more widespread immunization during pandemics. While the method is still in early stages, it marks a significant step toward making vaccinations more accessible and less invasive. With further development, a daily health habit like flossing could double as disease prevention on a global scale. The study is published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. Solve the daily Crossword
Forbes
28-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Smart Dental Floss Tracks Levels Of Stress Hormone Cortisol In Saliva
Scientists have created a dental floss that doesn't just clean between your teeth. It gauges your stress levels. It does that by measuring amounts of cortisol in saliva. Produced by the adrenal glands and often referred to as 'the stress hormone,' cortisol plays a critical role in regulating the body's response to stress, in addition to regulating blood pressure, helping control the sleep-wake cycle and influencing other physical functions. Chronic stress can impact us in all sorts of adverse ways — from increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease to decreasing immune function — so controlling and reducing it is essential. The Tufts University team behind the multitasking floss aimed to create a low-cost, noninvasive and simple at-home tool for getting a read on stress levels in real time. 'We didn't want measurement to create an additional source of stress,' Tufts engineering professor Sameer Sonkusale said in a statement, 'so we thought, can we make a sensing device that becomes part of your day-to-day routine?' Sonkusale and his colleagues detail their saliva-sensing dental floss in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and are creating a startup to try and bring the product to market. The dental floss comes in the form of a standard floss pick, with the string stretched across two prongs that extend from a plastic handle. It's not just any string, though. It's a special 3D-printed thread containing a narrow channel that picks up the saliva via capillary microfluidics, or blood vessel activity that moves the fluid along. The spit then gets drawn into the flat pick handle and into an attached tab, where it spreads across cortisol-detecting electrodes and produces a score within 11 to 12 minutes. 'Combined with a wireless readout, this saliva floss offers a convenient way to monitor daily stress levels," the study says. The team tested the device on student volunteers at the Boston university, resulting, according to the study, in highly accurate results reinforced by those of ELISA kits that test a range of antigen targets, hormones and molecules. Still, Sonkusale said the smart floss is best used for monitoring rather than diagnostics, where blood work remains the gold standard. 'But once you are diagnosed and put on medication, if you need to track, say, a cardiovascular condition over time to see if your heart health is improving, then monitoring with the sensor can be easy and allows for timely interventions when needed,' he said. The novel device, the scientists say, could be extended beyond cortisol to detect other salivary biomarkers, such as estrogen for fertility tracking, glucose for diabetes monitoring and even markers for cancer — turning a simple daily dental act into a broader health check-in.
