Researchers successfully test vaccination without needle using dental wire

Researchers have developed a special type of dental wire capable of administering vaccines through the gums, a method that could one day offer an alternative to needle -free vaccination. Research, published yesterday in Nature Biomedical Engineering, demonstrates a new way of triggering a protective immune response using a current dental hygiene tool.

The main author of the project, Harvinder Gill, explains that the idea came to him after reading that the gum pockets between the teeth – the gingival groove – are exceptionally effective in absorbing molecules. This prompted his team to check if this permeable area could be a new entry point for vaccines.

The researchers put their theory to the test as part of a study on mice. They coated the dental thread of an inactive flu virus and administered dental thread to a group of 50 mice every two weeks, for a total of three doses. Four weeks later, the team exposed these mice to a virus of the living flu. The results were clear: all the mice having received the vaccine based on dental wire survived, while all unvaccinated mice died. The mice having received dental thread presented a robust and systemic immune response, with high levels of antibodies and T cells in their lungs and splees.

In order to assess the potential of this method in a clinical context, the team also carried out a feasibility test with 27 human volunteers. Participants used dental wages coated with food coloring and managed to penetrate, on average, 60 % of the coloring in their gums. A later survey has revealed that most volunteers would be ready to try a vaccine based on dental wire and that they would prefer it to a traditional bite. Researchers have noted that clinical trials are necessary to prove that the concept is viable for human use.