For adults of a certain age, advertisements for dental implants seem to be everywhere. But for many people, the cost can be thousands of dollars per tooth, and they may end up biting off more than they can financially afford.
What if you could recreate your pearly whites instead, perhaps at a fraction of the cost?
approach Replacing your teeth with crowns or fillings rather than repairing them may be closer than you think. Scientists have investigated multiple methods over the past few decades, including RNA-based medicines, stem cell therapy, and mineral regeneration.
Place the RNA in your mouth
The idea that teeth can regrow isn’t all that far-fetched. Because humans once had the ability to grow a third set. Osaka researcher Masaru Takahashi is leading a team that does just that.
Their premise is based on the idea that humanity still has the necessary buds to grow the long-lost third set. The problem is A troublesome molecule called USAG-1 I will continue to disturb you. This molecule appears to be trying to inhibit growth and control the number of teeth adults have in their mouths.
In 2023, Takahashi’s research group announced that it had developed a drug that turns off that molecule. This approach involves using RNA to administer antibodies against USAG-1.
The research team has already shown that the drug is effective in animals. Experiments on humans are currently underway. If they clinical trial If the drug is found to be safe and effective, it could be widely available as early as 2030.
read more: Why you should be grateful for your teeth
Use stem cells
Stem cells seem like a promising approach because of their pluripotent nature. This means that more general progenitor cells can give rise to more specific progeny. The key is to control how many suitable offspring of what kind a stem cell parent can direct.
In 2023, a team from the University of Washington School of Dentistry demonstrated Principal’s proof in the lab. They created organoids from stem cells that secrete proteins that form enamel.
It is possible that the tooth can be repaired using this method. The team expects to use it like this buried alive It essentially regrows the space formed by the cavity.
mineral mining
A similar approach is based on enamel repair, but by growing minerals rather than living cells. In 2019, a team of researchers demonstrated that this is possible by chemically producing a gel containing calcium phosphate, a key component of enamel.
rear create a concoctionscientists at China’s Zhejiang University School of Medicine applied it to samples of damaged teeth. The group said the gel formed a layer of enamel 3 micrometers thick.
None of these approaches are commercially available at local dentists yet, but their potential to repair or regrow damaged teeth should make people smile.
article source of information
our writers are discovermagazine.com We use peer-reviewed research and high-quality sources in our articles, and our editors review them for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Check out the following sources used in this article.
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik was a science journalist for more than 20 years, specializing in U.S. life sciences policy and global scientific career issues. He started his career in newspapers but switched to scientific magazines. His research has appeared in publications such as Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
