A protein that helps build teeth may one day be used to allow damaged teeth to repair themselves.

That possibility is the focus of research led by Anne George, professor in the Department of Oral Biology at the UIC College of Dentistry. George has received a $1.2 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health to advance her studies of dentin phosphophoryn.

Dentin phosphophoryn is mainly found in dentin, which is the mineralized tissue that makes up the bulk of each tooth under its enamel surface. The most acidic protein known in nature, and it helps in the calcification of the protein matrix to form dentin.