| abstract |
A method of treating a tooth so as to inhibit deposition of a mineral thereon, which comprises contacting the tooth with a mineral deposition inhibitory effective amount of a poly-amino acid compound which has the structure: poly (X)n poly (Y)m where each X is a residue independently selected from the group consisting of aspartic acid, glutamic acid, phosphoserine, phosphohomoserine, phosphotyrosine, and phosphothreonine, each Y is independently a residue selected from the group consisting of alanine, leucine, isoleucine, valine and glycine, n is 2 to 60, m is 2 to 60, and n + m >/= 5, and wherein poly (X)n may contain up to 10% of the Y residues and poly (Y)m may contain up to 10% of the X residues, and salts thereof, in combination with an orally acceptable vehicle compatible with said compound. |