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Scientists Re-grow Dental Enamel
A reader at Cloning Resources writes "Dental enamel is the hardest tissue produced by the body. It cannot regenerate itself, because it is formed by a layer of cells that is lost by the time the tooth appears in the mouth. The enamel spends the remainder of its lifetime vulnerable to wear, damage, and decay. In hopes of eventually replacing teeth, scientists from Japan have developed a new method for growing dental enamel."
Like all genetic regrowth techniques, this one has a long way to go before it could be used in humans. At present, it involves using pig cells incubated in the abdominal tissue of living rats. Fascinating, to be sure, but not quite mainstream yet.
It is interesting that this group is using collagen sponges as scaffolding; I'm glad to hear research has continued with that technique to the point that it is functional for growing complex tissues.
This is certainly promising; the step from here to fully-regrown teeth is not overwhelming. Still, I wouldn't bet on your Coca-Cola stocks skyrocketing just yet.
-1 raving lunatic; +6 subGenius... Things even out...
This is a godsend for those people who grit their teeth involuntarily at night, like my father. The enamel on his teeth is most likely all gone already. (And those people who are nervous before exams in school and grit their teeth, etc.)
And, who knows, we might even be able to avoid filling teeth in the future; just apply/create some enamel in a cavity after burning the bacteria, neutralising the acid and stuff like that.
... I was thinking as I was having my wisdom teeth removed that it would be nice if it could be possible to artificially trigger the same response that causes the 'baby' teeth to fall out, maybe by injecting something in the root to cause it to disolve. Much less blood, pain, and (potential) nerve damage.
There was an article last year about someone coming up with using ultrasonic waves to trigger regrowth of teeth.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/0606
This seems much more along, and less complicated. I imagine a new use for an ultrasonic transducer is easier to get approved than transgenic tissue grafting.
I really wish there was some central repository of active studies, with an easy way to grade their progress and potential oversight burden. I imagine being able to subscribe to studies and experiments, and receiving updates when available. The most irritating thing about 'scientific discovery' news articles is the fickle nature of the media to keep people in the loop on it. Whenever a bold claim is made, it becomes news. But the incremental progress is not sexy, so you never hear of it again. How many 'promising' cures for various cancers have we heard of, only to never heard of them again?
Perhaps you'd care to cite those studies, then?
You might care to pass them on to the American Diabetes Association and Diabetes UK, both of which seem pretty clear that we're talking about a myth here. A quick Google will also turn up several recent research papers that do not show the link you assert.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Their teeth would just keep getting bigger.. and bigger..
That is the really sad thing about tongue piercings and mouth piercings that nobody tells you about before you get them.
Unless they're properly sized, your teeth will get worn and chipped. I chipped a molar a week after I had my tongue pierced.
Regarding the technique in the article, I think a better solution for many people is to figure out how to stimulate the growth of completely new teeth in adults, yank 'em all, and have all new ones grow in place. Especially if you can decide to omit extra molars the second time around for people with smaller mouths.
it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
Sort of. The pressure from the adult teeth cause the roots of the baby teeth to dissolve. A baby tooth falling out doesn't look like an extracted tooth - the root is almost gone by time it falls out.
Let's see Wikipedia must have something on this.... ah, here:
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
They propagated the cell-sponge matrix inside rat's abdomens. And they want that in your mouth? Ick. Biotech has a strong gross-out factor sometimes. They put dead people's bones in living people and use cow bone for reconstruction? Are we becoming vampires in a hi-tech manner?
Josh
gigantino.tv - Heavy but weighs nothing.
It's not my fault that you have no dental care, nor is it the fault of the researchers. I'd say that it's most likely the fault of insurance companies and the US Congress. My complaint with Congress is that they allow businesses to write off the cost of providing health insurance for their employees, but they do not allow individuals who are not covered by an employer's plan to write off the cost of buying the insurance themselves. It is unconscionable that Congress should give this "perk" to businesses and not to individuals.
Although I currently have health insurance that covers dental care, I have at times in the past had to pay for dental care out of my own pocket. And at those times, I was still glad that there were people doing research to improve the state of the art of dental care.