VOA慢速英语:Drug Helps Teeth Repair Themselves

I am going to take a chance and say that very few people enjoy going to the dentist, especially for a filling.
我要找机会说很少有人喜欢看牙医，尤其是填补牙洞。
A dentist usually treat a cavity by removing the damaged part of the tooth.Then they fill the hole with porcelain or a combination of silver and other metals.
牙医通常通过去除牙齿受损的部分治疗蛀洞。然后，他们用瓷器，或结合银和其他金属填补牙洞。
Oftentimes fillings need to be replaced during the patient’s lifetime.But is filling the cavity with a foreign material really the best treatment?What if the tooth could repair itself with its own material – dentine?
患者的一生中总是需要更换补牙用的填料。但是，用异物填补牙洞真是最好的治疗方法吗？如果牙齿可以用自带的牙质自我修复，那将会怎样？
That is what researchers at King’s College London are studying.They have found a process that may replace the traditional method.
伦敦国王学院的研究人员正在研究。他们发现了一个可能取代传统疗法的治疗方法。
Researchers say they may be close to perfecting a method of helping teeth to repair themselves. They say the treatment may make the filling of a cavity a thing of the past.
研究人员说，他们或已接近完善这种方法，即帮助牙齿自我修复。他们说这种疗法可能使填补牙洞成为过往。
Paul Sharpe of King’s College says a new treatment for cavities is simpler.It uses a drug that causes the tooth to fill in the hole naturally with dentine.
国王学院的保罗·夏普（Paul Sharpe）说，治疗蛀洞的新方法更简单。就是使用一种药物，使牙齿自然地用牙质填补牙洞。
“[It] involves putting a drug on a little sponge that goes inside the tooth, in the hole that the dentist made.It stimulates this natural process, which is starting to occur anyway following the damage, but it over-activates the process so you actually get the big hole repaired and the repair is a production of the natural material, the dentine.”
“它是将这种药放在一个小的海绵上，放进牙齿，放进牙医做的洞中。它刺激这种自然的过程，总之，它在破坏之后开始发生，但是，它过度刺激这种过程，所以，实际上，大洞得到了修复，这种修复是依靠天然材质——牙质。”
Usually a new drug requires repeated testing before it is approved for treatment.However, this drug that produces the regrowth in teeth has already been approved.It is a drug currently used to treat Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders of the nervous system.
通常，一种新药在被批准用于治疗前需要反复测试。然而，这种药物已经被批准，能再生牙齿。它目前用于治疗阿尔茨海默病和其他神经系统混乱。
Sharpe explains that when using this already-approved drug to repair cavities, researchers use only a small amount and they use it locally. Usually that means the medicine is put directly on the affected area.It does not travel through the patient’s blood.
夏普解释道，当使用这种已经被批准的药物修复蛀洞时，研究人员只少量使用，并在局部使用。通常这意味着药物直接放在受影响的区域。它不会进入病人的血液。
“We are using much smaller doses and we’re delivering them locally, just in a tooth.”
“我们正在使用更小的剂量，我们仅在局部使用，就在牙齿部分。”
Nigel Carter heads Britain’s Oral Health Foundation.He describes the new treatment as an exciting possibility for dental care.He notes that re-growing a tooth would be a major development.But Carter also has a warning.
奈格尔·卡特（Nigel Carter）是英国口腔健康基金会的负责人。他将新疗法描述成牙科护理令人兴奋的前景。他指出，再生牙齿将是一个重大的发展。但卡特也警告道。
“Actually re-growing the tooth that’s been lost with a cavity would be really a huge step forward. But, it’s also important that we remember that we shouldn’t be getting the cavity in the first place.We’re talking about a totally preventable disease.”
“实际上，使有蛀洞的牙齿再生长将是巨大的进步。但是，同样重要的是，我们也应该记得，我们不应该把蛀洞放在首位。我们在探讨的是一个完全可以预防的疾病。”
Although the new treatment uses a drug to cause the regrowth, it still requires the dentist to use a power drill.
虽然新的治疗方法使用药物刺激再生长，但仍然需要牙医使用电钻。
So, if you don’t want to go under the drill, the dentists advise us to keep cleaning those teeth.
所以，如果你不想因电钻而被麻醉，牙医建议我们要继续清洁牙齿。
I’m Anna Matteo.
安娜·马泰奥为您报道。