Scientists have been fantasizing about finding a way to grow back human teeth for years now.
This ability would not just help those unfortunates who undergo a tooth pulling, but it also would make dentures obsolete. Growing teeth is preferable to dentures or dental implants as they “cannot reproduce a natural root structure. Also friction from eating and other jaw movement can cause the bone around the implant to wear away.”
Recently, there’s been progress towards this goal. A team of scientists at King’s College London were successful in engineering “hybrid human-mouse teeth coated in enamel with developing roots.” In other words, researchers have found a population of cells that could be injected into the human jaw as a ‘seed’ to grow back teeth. As exciting as this is, there are many obstacles in the way of making this denture-replacing dream a reality — including a 10-15 year wait.
Back in the United States, researchers are working hard in competition with British scientists. A study was just published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealing the findings of researchers at the University of Southern California led by Cheng Ming Chuong. His team is trying to discover why alligators have the ability to grow back their teeth where humans cannot.
Many animals have strong regenerative powers. Some salamanders and lizards can grow back limbs; lobsters and crabs grow new claws; starfish grow back appendages; sharks and alligators can grow back teeth. So why are humans lacking in regenerative properties?
Chuong says we aren’t entirely lacking — humans have the ability to regenerate hair many times throughout our lifespans. As far as our teeth, alligators and humans are very alike in that when a mature tooth falls out, another one replaces it. But when the second tooth falls out, alligators have a stem cell that becomes a replacement tooth where humans have none. Alligators are in fact able to repeat this process of growing their teeth in sets of three. Chuong says “the DNA of humans contains the genetic material necessary to grown teeth and even regenerate other parts of the body, but that code isn’t turned on.”
Humans overall have fewer stem cells than primitive animals — instead, we have more specialized cells. Chuong believes that one day scientists will be able to inject hormones that will stimulate tooth growth in humans.
It seems like the Brits are ahead of us on that one–they’re already hard at work putting together a formula for a tooth-growing hormone!
Dr. Mike Malone and his team practice expert cosmetic dentistry in Lafayette, LA. Dr. Malone is the former president and current accredited member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. He is also the official Cosmetic Dentist of the Miss Louisiana USA and Miss Louisiana Teen USA pageants. Check out his website for more information.