Slashdot Mirror
Tooth Regeneration Coming Soon
Ponca City, We love you writes "For thousands of years, losing teeth has been a routine part of human aging. Now the Washington Post reports that researchers are close to growing important parts of teeth from stem cells, including creating a living root from scratch, perhaps within one year. According to Pamela Robey of the NIH. 'Dentists say, "Give me a root and I can put a crown on it."' In a few years dentists will treat periodontal disease with regeneration by using stem cells to create hard and soft tissue; they will take out a tooth that is about to fall, and reconnect it firmly to the regenerated tissue. Although nobody is predicting when it will be possible to grow teeth on demand, in adults, to replace missing ones, a common guess is five to ten years. Baby and wisdom teeth are sources of stem cells that could be 'banked' for future health needs, says Robey. 'When you think about it, the teeth children put under their pillows may end up being worth much more than the tooth fairy's going rate. Plus, if you still have your wisdom teeth, it's nice to know you're walking around with your own source of stem cells.'"
This research bites!
My parents were good to me, they adjusted the 25-cents a tooth they got for inflation... wonder what I'll have to pay my kids?
Plus, if you still have your wisdom teeth
I don't have them ... my dentist finally convinced me to have them removed a couple years ago.
Wasn't there something recently about making stem cells from normal (I think) tissue in the reproductive system?
Why must it always boil down to choosing between something cool and losing our fertility? :(
'Dentists say, "Give me a root and I can put a crown on it."'
This is the same thing that a king says when looking for a potential queen.
Homonyms are fun!
You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
My girlfriend swears she likes the taste... I've decided I can accept that.
Support my political activism on Patreon.
Back in my day when we lost our teeth we had to pay the tooth fairy $100 for each tooth we lost. She said the $100 was for "protection" - from tooth decay we assumed...of course we learned the awful truth when little Johnny refused to pay, and that crazy bitch knocked out the rest of his teeth with a baseball bat.
A dime?! That we could have been so lucky!
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
Somehow I just don't see it as a worthwhile goal to adjust one's diet to affect the taste of your sperm.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain