Grow your own TEETH - dental experts signal end of false gnashers

FALSE teeth could soon be a thing of the past after scientists discovered a way of growing a new set.

 

False teeth may become a thing of the past

 

Dental experts have found a pioneering method of splitting a tooth into two fully functional teeth.

In groundbreaking tests, they were able to successfully implant "germs" which grew into new teeth with full functionality in the jaws of mice.

They hope the same method could eventually be carried out on human patients.

 



Current teeth replacements fail to restore full fuctionality



 

Researchers from the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology in Japan used a new technique of extracting teeth germs, or the groups of cells formed early in life that will later develop into teeth.

The scientists said they were easily able to split the germs into two and implant them into the mice's jaws.

The study, published in Scientific Reports of the journal Nature, showed that many current treatments of replacement fail to restore the full functionality of a tooth.

But the prospect of naturally growing new teeth in the patient's mouth would solve this problem.

 



The method has been successful in mice



 

There are currently 11million people who wear dentures in the UK.

But not all are old, with almost a million people aged 16 to 44 having false teeth.

The reasons for tooth loss are varied. While most are lost through dental disease, other reasons include the effects of drug abuse, malnutrition and genetic defects.

Experts consider teeth as a major target for regenerative medicine, with about 10 per cent of people born with some missing teeth and many others losing teeth due to accidents or disease as they age.



 

It is hoped it will soon be possible to regrow a missing tooth in humans

 

The researchers set about trying to make new teeth from a single germ. Teeth germs were removed from mice and were sliced into two with nylon thread. The experiment took about 15 days to develop the germ naturally into two teeth.

The study shows the new teeth allowed the mice to chew and feel stimulus. However, the implanted teeth were just half the size of normal teeth.

Lead researcher Takashi Tsuji said the new method could be especially useful for children who did have properly developed teeth due to conditions like cleft lip or Down syndrome.

Germs of permanent teeth or wisdom teeth could be used to develop new fully functional teeth that could then be implanted. Dr Tsuji added that they could soon consider using stem cells to grow more germs, though further tests were still needed for the process.