By Australian silversmith Polly van der Glas, this teeth jewellery, well… it’s kind of like ivory with a touch of plaque — I mean — patina. And the “stones” make a fashionable defensive alternative to brass knuckles.

Look, we know this stuff is horrendous. But really, it’s only just as offensive as Kay’s latest heart crossed with lips cross with angels pendant. So there. [Van Der Glas via ecoutree via inhabitat]

Basically that little mouse, let’s call him Jerry, lost a tooth and grew a new one in its place with the help of some scientists:

To create the new tooth, the researchers [...] took epithelial cells and mesenchymal cells (about 50,000 each) from a mouse embryo and cultivated them together in a collagen-based medium to create a tiny tooth bud — a mass of tissue that has the potential to develop into a tooth.

This mass of tissues was implanted in the spot where Jerry’s old tooth used to be and after 50 days that mouse could nibble on cheese properly again. The new tooth grew to the same height as the surrounding ones, is just as hard, and has all the same blood vessels and nerves.

Researchers are hoping that this bioengineering process will one day make dentures and false teeth obsolete, but I think that anyone watching Shark Week is secretly imagining growing a mouthful of chompers like that.

PinkTentacle

Although shooting a stream of plasma into your mouth sounds painful, the blowtorch actually works in small pulses, which lets the flame’s gasses ionise and cool down a little before they can burn you. So far, dentists have only used this technology to sterilise teeth during root canals, but have a few other ideas on where else to use it—perhaps, in the future, zapping away diseases on your genitals? [R and D via PopSci]

How does it work? It’s essentially a mouth guard—you know, like the ones boxers use—that you use while performing oral sex. On a male.

It retails for $US28 and contains a pack of strawberry flavoured lubrication. Not sure whether or not the lube goes on the inside as well as the outside of the Blowguard, but you can use it how you like. It’s a seriously good idea, as any guy who’s been accidentally teethed can attest to. Not sure how it feels on the giver. Probably not that much worse than having a penis in the mouth.

Fleshbot (NSFW) will have a review of it soon. [Blowguard (NSFW)]

The professor and his student have shown that “bad” bacteria cannot stick to the surface, which is great, since it’s the type of bacteria that cause dental bills. Teeth polished with nanoparticles still may have bacteria on it, but from what I’m reading, can be easily removed. Easier than with brushing, or else this thing isn’t really an advance at all.

It’s too bad that by the time the technique is made into a product and deployed to actual dentists, I’ll be 50 and have been toothless for 20 years. [Science Daily]

Here’s your opportunity to have Hollywood white, super-healthy teeth, thanks this revolutionary, super-safe, medical-quality laser toothbrush. It has an energy concentration so low that any tissue surface, even eye tissue, is safe! It works with a programmed tooth management system that turns on the laser for a recommended treatment period (55 seconds) with one-touch mode switch. In this case, the laser toothbrush does not need toothpaste but directly radiates laser on teeth. This revolutionary semiconductor medical laser helps decrease sensitivity, toothache pain, inflammation, and even helps eliminate bad breath. No more messy toothpaste accidents, now you can clean your teeth with light! [AA batteries included]

Don’t trouble yourself with working out exactly how the laser is powerful enough to burn plaque and germs but leave your gums, teeth and eyes intact, because we can tell you how. It’s a freaking laser.

Maybe we’re being to hard on the Smart Miracles Laser Toothbrush. Maybe this $US69.95 device operates just as advertised, eliminating bad breath and decreasing sensitivity while not necessarily doing a damn thing for actual tooth health—after all, a tongue cleaner can eradicate most morning mouth without cool beams of light. But still, I’m not trusting it to do anything right related to my precious oral hygiene. And I love lasers. [Smart Miracles via bookofjoe]

Unlike the Teledyne Waterpik of old, the manufacturer of the Dental Air Force throws more than just a stream of water at your grimy teeth and gums—it also uses air pressure and their own proprietary cleaning solution to “break through the plaque barrier.” Unfortunately, laying a beat down on Count Plaqula won’t come cheap. The unit is priced at $US240 and refills run about 30-35 cents per dose. [Dental Air Force via DVICE]

Dabori says that his patent-pending Giro Sponge holds water, massages gums and polishes teeth all at the same time. He hopes to have it to market soon, with versions for adults and kids. Besides the fact that I think it would feel totally creepy, like brushing your teeth with a wet rag, the real spoiler here is that you would have to floss all the time since it doesn’t go between your teeth at all–I hate flossing, and I’m not going to do it more than once a day. [Crave]

This method would make it possible to detect damage much faster than X-rays, nipping the problem in the bud before drilling is necessary. The testing is ongoing, but the researchers hope that the lasers could be available commercially within the next five years. Of course, you would have to actually go to the dentist on a regular basis to benefit from the procedure, so my guess is that drilling won’t disappear anytime soon. [eurekalert via ZDNet]

Plus there’s talk of having a light beam that reflects off your enamel to determine how clean your teeth are and when you need to move on. We’d take one of these if they integrated the water spray into one of their Sonicare brushes, which work fantastic already. Try and make enough money to pay back your student loans now, dentists! [New Scientist]