Good Vibrations

Pound for pound, human bone is stronger than steel. But for three million people in the UK, osteoporosis has left their bones weakened. Current drug treatments come with numerous side effects. Some with the disease therefore choose alternative therapies, including mechanical stimulation of their bones through exercise. However, this mainly targets weight-bearing bones and doesn't help the alveolar bones of the jaw, which hold our teeth in place. Unsurprisingly, tooth loss is more common in osteoporosis patients. Researchers therefore investigated whether stimulating these bones with vibrations called high frequency acceleration (HFA) could strengthen them. In mice with osteoporosis, HFA was applied to one-half of their jaws but not the other. The alveolar bones were then imaged using micro-CT (pictured). The quality and quantity of HFA-treated alveolar bone (upper) were significantly better than non-treated bone (bottom). More research is needed to find out if this will work in osteoporosis patients too.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Mani Alikhani and colleagues
• CTOR Academy, Hoboken, NJ, USA
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS One, January 2019