Now You Can Grow New Natural Teeth To Order!
by Usha on November 4th, 2009
Image by Nicola Vernizzi
One of the main fears we all have is the loss of teeth as we grow older and our teeth wear out, because human teeth do not grow back. When humans lose their baby teeth, permanent teeth grow in their place, but when these permanent teeth are lost, they are gone for good. Tooth loss causes difficulty with chewing, causes oral disease, disfigures the face and leads to speech problems.
The only options we have are that of dentures or tooth implants; where an artificial tooth root is fixed into the jaw to hold a replacement tooth in place.
Worry no more, say researchers! Soon, you may be able to go to your dentist and get new teeth – grown to order – in your own mouth.
Latest research on growing new teeth
Researchers have made major advances and grew a new mouse tooth. Human teeth come next! They are hugely excited about this, as this is a major step in bioengineering, and they hope this will lead them to human organ generation someday.
Mice, unlike sharks do not grow new teeth if a tooth is completely removed; although their frontal teeth continue to grow. But now scientists managed to grow a new tooth in a mouse by using stem cells.
In dental biology, the presence of dental epithelial stem cells in continuously growing teeth has been recently discovered. It was seen that the niche for these adult stem cells is formed at the apical end in tooth development. The new concept is that the eternal tooth buds are formed at the apical end in the development of continuously growing teeth.
Researchers found that a single gene seems to be responsible for preventing growth of new teeth in species limited with one set of teeth, and they bred mice without that particular gene (Osr2). Removing the Osr2 gene resulted in a cleft palate, a common birth defect where both the halves of the roof of the mouth do not join properly, and leave a gap. Another thing that happened was that the mice grew extra teeth next to their first molars, like sharks and other non-mammals.
Apart from finding the growth of extra teeth outside of the normal row, researchers also found that removal of the Osr2 gene also helped them come up with a theory of how teeth are formed in such perfect alignment with one another without forming too close, with the exception of the wisdom teeth (third molars) that usually form too close and are pulled to create space.
Researchers at the Tokyo University, conducting this study bioengineered a tooth germ – a seed that contains cells from a mouse embryo. This contained genetic instructions “to build a tooth,” and then transplanted this “tooth germ” into the jawbones of adult mice, in the empty tooth sockets.
Results of the research
The result astounded them – new teeth grew from the bioengineered tissue through the gums, just as an original one would. After eleven weeks, once the tooth matured, it looked and felt the same as a natural tooth. The best part is that the mice could eat with the new teeth as perfectly as they did with their natural teeth. The teeth have also been seen to develop nerve fibers that could feel pain.
Dr. Fei Liu, a researcher at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the Texas A&M Medical Science Center said that the research provides convincing proof that teeth grown through bioengineering can be perfectly functional.
Who will benefit?
This development could prove to be a blessing for people with malformed teeth or with a cleft palate.
According to Dr. Elsas, from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, “Tooth regeneration could be useful particularly in infant malformations such as cleft lip and palate, and other malformations involving teeth and bone of the oral cavity.”
How about generating teeth as replacements for synthetic implants or inlays?
As good as that sounds, researchers say there is a problem with generation of teeth in humans. They have not yet found the cells needed to start the tooth generation process in humans. They hope that soon they may be able to use a person’s own cells without having to use cells from embryos.
I’m sure today’s baby boomers are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that researchers find a solution soon.
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Tags: dentures, kids with cleft palate, losing teeth, loss of teeth in old age, new natural teeth, new teeth, tooth implants
K. Engel
November 15thThe title of the above story is misleading to the reader. There were many stories on the subject about growing new teeth, for the past ten years but none was titled…”Now you can grow new natural teeth to order”. Shame on you Usha!
Usha
December 8thHi Engel,
I’m sorry you feel that way. The article is about the the latest research that reveals the possibility of growing new teeth, which we could never have imagined earlier. Would it have been better to use the same titles that have been used before?
Shame on me?:) I certainly appreciate you speaking your mind, but it could have been better expressed. I’m not ashamed but certainly “confused!”
Regards,
Usha
Usha
December 16thNote to our readers:
I’d like to let our readers know that every article that goes on our site is thoroughly researched to ensure complete accuracy. We ensure that we bring our readers ONLY FACTS based on our research.
We have received an email from Amanda White saying that this article is misleading and that my post above was uncalled for.
Regarding the article, I would like to clarify that every single detail contained within this article has been retrieved from various government resources. The only thing we do is make sure it is written in an easy to understand language.
As far as my post above goes, I would like to let Amanda White know that she, and each and every one of our readers are extremely important to us and we value their patronage. We would never want to displease anyone.
Regards,
Usha