People with missing teeth may be able to grow new ones, say Japanese dentists testing a pioneering drug they hope will offer an alternative to dentures and implants.

Unlike reptiles and fish, which usually replace their fangs on a regular basis, it is widely accepted that humans and most other mammals only grow two sets of teeth.

But hidden underneath our gums are the dormant buds of a third generation, according to Katsu Takahashi, head of oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka.

[…]

Tests on mice and ferrets suggest that blocking a protein called USAG-1 can awaken the third set, and the researchers have published lab photographs of regrown animal teeth.

In a study published last year, the team said their “antibody treatment in mice is effective for tooth regeneration and can be a breakthrough in treating tooth anomalies in humans”.

  • synae[he/him]English
    9•12 hours ago

    Can’t wait to grow my teeth out

    1000019910

  • @penquin@lemm.eeEnglish
    55•20 hours ago

    Waiting for a pharmaceutical company patenting the shit out of this and selling it $500,000 per tooth, and for insurance companies denying covering it because it is “experimental” or “unnecessary”. Fun times in the USA.

    • The PantserEnglish
      24•20 hours ago

      It will be unnecessary as long as dentures are the cheaper option. If there is a drug that can regrow teeth then denture manufacturers will start jacking up their costs now to offset the decline in need. Eventually they will be equally priced, they will both be $1 million.

  • EleventhHourEnglish
    23•20 hours ago

    OK, so you’re not really regrowing teeth, you’re growing a hidden, third, backup tooth using some sort of gene therapy.

    Cool

    • astrsk
      9•18 hours ago

      Granted, your existing teeth will fall out all at once the next time you are really nervous and your new set of teeth will finish growing in when you turn 98.