Reclaiming Lost Smiles
Will it soon be possible to regrow human teeth?
Today, if an adult loses a tooth, or lacks some of their teeth due to a congenital condition, there’s little they can do beyond settling for a dental implant. But in preliminary research published in Science Advances, as reported by Kyoto University’s Research News, scientists at Kyoto University and the University of Fukui in Japan believe an alternative might be on the horizon. This is an innovative treatment aiming to regenerate teeth in people by targeting a protein inhibiting tooth growth. Human trials are set to start in the fall of 2024, as reported in News Nation.
“We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence. While there has been no treatment to date providing a permanent cure, we feel that people's expectations for tooth growth are high,” lead researcher, Katu Takahashi, who heads the dentistry and oral surgery department at Osaka’s Kitano hospital, said in a press statement back in 2021.
Teeth are not bones!
Millions of people around the world suffer from some form of toothlessness, officially known as edentulism, due to decay or illness. Of these, an estimated one percent suffer from congenital tooth deficiency, a hereditary condition that causes them to lack six or more teeth, reports Japanese national daily, The Mainichi.
As Popular Mechanics details, while human bones are capable of regrowing themselves when they break, this isn’t the case with teeth. Significantly, teeth aren’t bones. Though made of some of the same material, and the hardest substance in the human body thanks to their enamel coating, they lack the ability to heal and regrow themselves.
A novel approach
Japanese researchers are now moving forward with an experimental drug that promises to regrow teeth. This has been demonstrated to work in mice and ferrets, the latter having similar dental patterns to humans, Kyoto University’s Research News points out, without major side effects.
According to this publication, “The study is the first to show the benefits of monoclonal antibodies on tooth regeneration and provides a new therapeutic framework for a clinical problem that can currently only be resolved with implants and other artificial measures.”
As The Mainichi outlines, the tooth regrowth medicine deactivates a protein and antibody, USAG-1, which inhibits the growth of teeth. The research team believes that it will be able to help people who have lost teeth due to cavities or injury, as well as those with missing teeth due to congenital conditions.
Popular Mechanics reveals that this particular antibody has been studied for years, as it has been shown to inhibit the growth of teeth in ferrets and mice. But it is in 2021 that scientists from Kyoto University, who will be involved in future human trials, discovered a monoclonal antibody (a technique typically used in fighting cancer) that disrupted the interaction between USAG-1, and molecules known as bone morphogenetic protein or BMP.
As co-author of the study, Kyoto University’s Katsu Takahashi, shares, the scientists were aware that targeting USAG-1 promotes tooth growth. They just didn’t know if it would be enough.
Clinical trials to start in September 2024
The Mainichi reports that the first phase of clinical trials of the world’s first “tooth regrowth medicine” are set to commence in September at Kyoto University Hospital. According to Kitano Hospital in the Japanese city of Osaka, and involved in the study, the medicine will be given intravenously to 30 healthy males aged 30-64 who are missing at least one molar tooth.
This will be followed by tests on young children with congenital tooth deficiency with at least four teeth missing from birth.
If successful in trials, researchers say that a drug treatment could be available commercially by 2030, reveals News Nation.
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