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The world of science is moving at a fast pace and now we’re staring down the barrel of a future where technology could regrow lost teeth. This development could mean a change in how we deal with oral health, and what it means to own a healthy mouth.
Already, there are dental composites
that can reshape and refine teeth more than anyone ever imagined even a
few years ago. Dentists use these to transform how teeth feel and what
they look like.
However, biological limits remain. Humans as a species aren’t particularly good at regrowing teeth. While we have baby teeth that eventually yield to adult ones popping up from under the surface, the body simply doesn’t have the DNA to grow new teeth, like a crocodile does, which is why so many humans have oral health problems.
However, advances in tooth regeneration are accelerating. New research seems to point to a future where growing lost teeth instead of replacing them becomes dentists’ main job.
Stem Cell Therapy
Part of the answer will likely be stem cell therapy. Researchers believe they can harness these cells and grow tooth tissue from them with the right sequence of gene commands.
Stem cells are essentially regular cells that can turn into any cell in the body, including the material that comprises teeth. Programming them in a certain way could help them express this aspect of their nature, just like what happens when babies are growing in the womb. The part of the stem cell that tells it to turn into a tooth cell switches on and voila.
Gene Editing
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Another approach being used by scientists is to manipulate certain genes responsible for tooth development. The hope is that stimulating these will enable any existing tooth material to recover.
Mice studies seem to indicate that this sort of counter-intuitive approach is possible. Studies so far looked at the USAG-1 gene but there may be others involved that can work together to grow new teeth.
The problem is that the adult mouth is a different environment from the normal one in which teeth grow. Therefore, there are moves being made to help this happen outside the body or under the gum where formation can take place before eruption or installation.
Scaffolds
Another approach involves the use of biological “scaffolds” to help new teeth grow. These are like frames which provide the support the growing tooth cells need to take their final shape.
Scaffolds, as you might imagine, begin by injecting specific gene-activated stem cells into the jaw. These then grow and fill out the scaffold which supports them until they reach their desired state. Then, ultimately, the scaffold dissolves or simply becomes a part of the final tooth construction
Drugs
What about drugs? Can these boost tooth growth?
The idea with these compounds is to reactivate dormant tooth pathways that the body may have forgotten about and get them moving again. However, this line of investigation is not as promising as those involving stem cells.
However, biological limits remain. Humans as a species aren’t particularly good at regrowing teeth. While we have baby teeth that eventually yield to adult ones popping up from under the surface, the body simply doesn’t have the DNA to grow new teeth, like a crocodile does, which is why so many humans have oral health problems.
However, advances in tooth regeneration are accelerating. New research seems to point to a future where growing lost teeth instead of replacing them becomes dentists’ main job.
Stem Cell Therapy
Part of the answer will likely be stem cell therapy. Researchers believe they can harness these cells and grow tooth tissue from them with the right sequence of gene commands.
Stem cells are essentially regular cells that can turn into any cell in the body, including the material that comprises teeth. Programming them in a certain way could help them express this aspect of their nature, just like what happens when babies are growing in the womb. The part of the stem cell that tells it to turn into a tooth cell switches on and voila.
Gene Editing
Pexels - CC0 License
Another approach being used by scientists is to manipulate certain genes responsible for tooth development. The hope is that stimulating these will enable any existing tooth material to recover.
Mice studies seem to indicate that this sort of counter-intuitive approach is possible. Studies so far looked at the USAG-1 gene but there may be others involved that can work together to grow new teeth.
The problem is that the adult mouth is a different environment from the normal one in which teeth grow. Therefore, there are moves being made to help this happen outside the body or under the gum where formation can take place before eruption or installation.
Scaffolds
Another approach involves the use of biological “scaffolds” to help new teeth grow. These are like frames which provide the support the growing tooth cells need to take their final shape.
Scaffolds, as you might imagine, begin by injecting specific gene-activated stem cells into the jaw. These then grow and fill out the scaffold which supports them until they reach their desired state. Then, ultimately, the scaffold dissolves or simply becomes a part of the final tooth construction
Drugs
What about drugs? Can these boost tooth growth?
The idea with these compounds is to reactivate dormant tooth pathways that the body may have forgotten about and get them moving again. However, this line of investigation is not as promising as those involving stem cells.
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