Radioactive Toothpaste

A radioactive version of the common toothpaste ingredient, sodium fluoride, has been injected into the bloodstreams of patients to detect dangerous plaques inside their arteries. Fluoride makes teeth stronger by binding to calcium compounds in the enamel – a property that also makes it stick to calcium-rich rich plaques in the blood vessels of people suffering from atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Adding a tiny amount of radioactive tracer to sodium fluoride allowed scientists to scan plaques with precision – and identify unstable plaques, which were found to attract the highest concentrations of fluoride. These are particularly dangerous and were surgically removed during clinical trials because pieces can break free and cause strokes or heart attacks. Pictured is a section of excised human carotid artery showing extensive calcification, marked blue and green by the radioactive tracer, at three different depths of scanning.

Written by Mick Warwicker

Mick Warwicker

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A freelance communications consultant and writer, Mick specialises in science and education. A science graduate and award-winning print and broadcast journalist, he was Head of Communications at Newcastle University from 2000–2011.

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• Image courtesy of the University of Cambridge, UK
• University of Cambridge
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 3.0)
• Research published in Nature Communications, July 2015