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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.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
A couple of years after having a tooth extracted, a new one came in, and his dentist was going over his older x-rays to make sure that the tooth coming in hadn't been there all along. Apparently it's a very rare thing, but not completely unheard of, and we all grow teeth at least once in our lives.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
One thing that's often ignored is that some people have naturally "harder" teeth than others. I, unfortunately, am "blessed" with the softer variety. I put out the effort: brush vigorously, regularly, flossing daily, etc. and my teeth are just horrible, and probably a third are basically just plastic. I am one of my Dentist's best customers.
My wife, on the other hand, simply doesn't have to spend nearly as much effort on her teeth. She brushes and all, but she has gorgeous teeth and puts in only modest effort. I see the same in our children. Some have her teeth, put out little effort and consistently have nice, white teeth and no cavities, while others have mine, and brush regularly only to have cavities every single visit.
Finally, I can grow new teeth!?!? Oh wait, they'll be *MY* teeth? With *MY* crappy-ass tooth genes?
(to my wife) Eh, babe? (Ahem) Mind if I have one of your wisdom teeth?
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
On the flipside, many of my teeth required some sort of work done on them after a course of treatment by a dubious orthodontist when I was a kid. Since then, even though dentists have always told me I have generally good oral hygiene, it seems like I have to get some filling or something replaced every few months, which is expensive and occasionally painful. I would give a lot to have real, intact teeth again, and articles like this give me some hope that one day it might even be possible. (I hear you on the root surgery thing, though: been there, done that too.)
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
the irony is that the people who would benefit more from such advancement (the toothless poor who cant bite a beefjerk at the age of 21) will not be able to afford such treatment.
'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.
Screw growing back teeth, I want to know when we can have the genetically modified Streptococcus Mutans. Like 5 years ago, researchers announced they'd developed a strain of s.mutans (the bacteria responsible for most tooth decay) that doesn't excrete lactic acid. Once subjects' mouths were inoculated, the modified s.mutans completely took over, pushing the damaging strain out. Once inoculated you're theoretically 99% cavity free for the rest of your life. Is the ADA lobbying to keep it off the market because fillings and such are such a big money maker? Wouldn't surprise me.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
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.
One thing that has always puzzled me is that despite all the advances in technology, getting a crown is still VERY expensive. There has been no appreciable reduction in cost due to better manufacturing techniques, or better/cheaper materials. Compare this to say, lasik - when it was first introduced it cost about 4K per eye I think. Now it's a few hundred.