Can "Keep 32" chemical keep you cavity-free?

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(CBS News) Soon, there may be new way to prevent cavities - forever.

Jose Cordoba of Yale University and Erich Astudillo of Universidad de Santiago in Chile have discovered "Keep 32," a new chemical that may be able to keep your pearly whites pristine. Named after the 32 teeth in the human mouth, Keep 32 was able to get rid of all the bacteria that causes cavities in just 60 seconds, according to the Daily Mail.

The Chilean website Diario Financiero Online reports that the pair of researchers have been working since 2005 on finding the perfect formula. They have a provisional patent on the molecule and are looking for funding for their proposed 14 to 18-month human trials. They believe the product can earn $300 million in revenue within the first five years of operation.

"The molecule can not only be incorporated into a gum, but in products like toothpastes, mouthwashes, dental floss, candies, lollipops, dental night gel and others who items that can be kept inside the mouth for at least 60 seconds," Erich Astudillo, CEO of Top Tech Innovations, the company that holds the patent, said to DF.cl.

This isn't the first product in development that researchers hope will make that trip to the dentist more pleasant. "Smart bomb" mouthwash, which was created by UCLA researchers, also showed promise in eliminating tooth decay by getting rid of the S. mutans bacteria, the main cause of tooth decay, for the entire four-day duration of the study.

Tooth decay and cavities are certainly a problem. A report out in March 2012 said that more preschoolers were showing up to dentists with 10 or more cavities, while a more recent one in May said that one in five Americans have an untreated cavity.

Astudillo said he hopes to license the chemical to companies that produce dental hygiene products like Colgate or Proctor and Gamble or candy companies like Hershey's or Cadbury.

However, Smart Planet points out that the molecule may be classified as an antibiotic. In this case, the researchers would have to prove that the it can be used in a variety of methods without many health consequences, similar to fluoride.

Still, the researchers are optimistic, telling to DF.cl that they are already in talks with five companies.

[vianetta]

Fluoride already does this. And it's likely a lot cheaper than any of this hyped blue-sky stuff. Xylitol also is anti-cariogenic, and again already available in many chewing gums.

[healthglobal]

A basic google search would lead us to other discoveries by this Cordoba. His only publication is as a third or fourth author more than a decade ago, not reliable science here. He is also associated to a business entrepreneur who use to direct a restaurant chain. Yes, he knows about cavities.

[healthglobal]

"Discoveries" in quotes I mean. Fake discoveries

[healthglobal]

Dear CBS< please look more carefully at your sources. These are fake news, non existent. Those researchers have been discovering all kind of incredible stuff for decades, check their affiliations, and check if there is any article in a peer review journal published in this regard. Amazing how mainstream picks up on simple fake news.

[hypnotoad72]

To hire such editors costs money and more companies are trying to do things as lean as possible, while putting out things that grab viewer's attention because that's what drives value.

That's our economy now.

Why do people complain?

[randomites]

Willie Nelson fans were just hoping for a "Keep 8" chemical in their toothpaste.

[Skeptic48]

Where is the verification? CBS News should be ashamed to publish such a shoddy piece of misinformation. Cordoba is not 'of Yale' according to the university's website; Estudillo is not 'of' any university, he is neither a scientist nor a researcher but a businessman. The Diario Financiero article was incredibly badly translated on Google and gives a deeply misleading impression. But that's all the more reason to do real journalism here instead of recirculate what is only someone's desire to promote a project.

Science needs verification, peer review and replication - not just a press release that then gets bounced around as if it were the truth.

Murrow and Cronkite must be turning over in their graves...

[lawyertom1]

If it is an antibiotic or has antibiotic properties, one needs to be concerned about creating resistant organisms, a major problem with most modern antibiotics. This would seem potentially a problem with a substance in which there could be frequent, low dose exposures, sufficient to select for resistant organisms.

[Italubi]

Good point! I didn't think of this and it is very important. Great discovery, but the companies and FDA will have to check the side effects like resistance.

By the way, Jose Cordoba is a COLOMBIAN scientist! Proud of people from my country doing research and good things for humanity.

I wish more people would realize how many good Colombians there are out there. Our country is not all about drugs and violence.