Good luck trying to find a dentist that will administer something that will make him obsolete.

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Fluoridated water has made cavities almost obsolete for most people my age (late 20s) already. Dentists have branched out into pimping whitening treatments, etc. to compensate for the difference already.

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Probably worth the trip to Mexico...

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How does this affect the purity of my precious bodily fluids?

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They are no longer your precious bodily fluids, they have been replaced by exact duplicates while you slept.

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Perhaps you'll need to re-spray after every course of antibiotics.

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Other things to think about... if you get this treatement and then spit into a lake that contains streptococcus mutans, eventually all the old bateria in that lake will be replaced by the new bacteria, right?

And why even get the spray? Just make out with someone else who got it.

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Excellent point. Also, could be a very effective pickup line.

Hey baby, want my genetically modified salivary bacteria?

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Dude, it's not ice-9.

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Recent trials involve couples where they only treat one person. They're hoping it doesn't spread to anyone else's mouth.

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One has to wonder what the effects of this treatment would be for those receiving oral sex from people that have undergone this particular treatment. . . .mutant bacterial on ones genitals might not be a good thing. . . . .

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That was a plot element in both Blood Music by Greg Bear and 0wnz0red by Cory Doctorow (both of which are great).

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I don't think these particular mutant bacteria are going to be doing anything different on your genitals than the regular kind.

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Yup, lactic acid is supposed to prevent thrush. Looks like future generations will all have sparkling white teeth and itchy crotches.

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I wish they had that earlier, I'm 23 and I have an average of two and a half fillings in each tooth and the condition of my teeth is this morbid thing because teeth never get stronger, only weaker.

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One treatment? How can that be profitable?

I suspect the lag time is so they can figure out how to make it a weekly application.

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Is LASIK profitable?

Unless the GM bacterial kill the non-GM bacteria, you'd eventually get some reintroduction of the naturally occurring bacteria (yeah, I know the article says otherwise, but I ain't buying). So you'd need to reapply the GM bacteria periodically.

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and how long before the dental equivalent of the RIAA and MPAA starts suing people who get that treatment? I can't wait til the PSA ads start appearing before movies discouraging it as a frankenstein monster.

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Or, you just get sued for making out with someone who's got the mutant bacteria...

Excuse me sir, but do you have a registration code for that genetically modified spit you're carrying around?
ZZZORRRRT!

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so it's not exactly the lactic acid that is the problem in tooth decay. Lactic acid is produced in a number of ways by the body, in example it's a by product when you excercise and the body burns off lactate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactic_acid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptococcus_mutans
"Along with S. sobrinus, S. mutans plays a major role in tooth decay, metabolizing sucrose to lactic acid.[2] The acidic environment created in the mouth by this process is what causes the highly mineralized tooth enamel to be vulnerable to decay. The microbe was first described by JK Clark in 1924. S. mutans is one of a few specialized organisms equipped with receptors for adhesion to the surface of teeth. Sucrose is utilized by S. mutans to produce a sticky, extracellular, dextran-based polysaccharide that allows them to cohere to each other forming plaque. S. mutans produces dextran via the enzyme dextransucrase using sucrose as a substrate in the following reaction:"

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in traditional I_dont_get_the_joke fashion:
nearly everything manmade is unvegan on somelevel. most vegans have thought through thresholds which sketch out what they'll avoid. bacteria itself is vegan to all living vegans, as otherwise they'd be dead. some hippies have problems with GM, and some have problems with animal testing which was likely used for developing the bacterium, and otherthings, so on those particular thresholds perhaps this particular bacterium is unvegan. my vegan verdict is spray me up scottie.

anyway, I think every mention of dental hygiene should involve a rendition of how Nat Friedman fucked up his teeth, have you heard that story? if you have you missed the boat.

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I've bought my dentist WAY more sportscars than Nat ever did.

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Your vexing vegan questions are keeping me up at night. Please stop, thank you very much.

Sincerely, Ms. Jen

PS Yes.

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Yes

Bacteria are plants. Do we say "intestinal fauna"?

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I'm pro-cavity.

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I put two or three drops of tea tree oil on my toothbrush. Wipes out everything.

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So, if I've got a hot date and use a bit too much mouthwash will I kill all the expensive leased GM bacteria in my mouth and need a reapplication?

What about drinking too much really good bourbon?

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