Tooth Regeneration Coming Soon 289
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.'"
Where's my GM Strep Mutans? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Hm. Great (Score:3, Informative)
Less painful than some drilling, a filling or two, then later a root canal, or possibly repeated root canals if the first doesn't quite get it.
Re:Well, now that just SUCKS. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Where's my GM Strep Mutans? (Score:5, Informative)
Where are they? In the final stages of FDA clinical trials.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caries_vaccine [wikipedia.org]
Re:Well, now that just SUCKS. (Score:5, Informative)
My girlfriend swears she likes the taste... I've decided I can accept that.
Give her a treat by drinking lots of pineapple juice or eating bananas or papayas. Also, lay off the red meat, alcohol, and coffee.
The fruits will make it sweeter while red meat, alcohol and coffee will make it bitter.
What will you do when she wants more than you can produce? She will suck you out!
Wheat germ can help you produce more.
Re:Where's my GM Strep Mutans? (Score:5, Informative)
> Is the ADA lobbying to keep it off the market because fillings and such are such a big
> money maker?
You mean the way they lobbied to block flouridation and flouride treatments?
(Hint for the dense: they didn't. Quite the contrary.)
Re:I have a friend who grew a tooth. (Score:3, Informative)
The wisdom teeth are part of your permanent tier, they just erupt later. Back before we had good dentistry, it wasn't uncommon for an individual to be missing a tooth or two by the time they reached 25, and so when the wisdom teeth came in, they would rack in from the back and shift the others forward.
Now that tooth loss is uncommon, wisdom teeth are regularly extracted, since they're liable to become impacted if there isn't space (from missing teeth) for them to grow in.
And it's true that some people don't grow wisdom teeth. It's also true that some people only grow two, and some people grow six.
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Re:It's about time (Score:2, Informative)
My dad is a dental lab technician (the guys who make crowns) and to hear him tell it, there have essentially been no advances in technology or manufacturing techniques. Yes, the materials are better and the process is apparently more streamlined, with better models to work from, but they are still mostly custom made, by hand. (When was the last time you had something custom tailored?) And the labor force that does this is apparently aging and not growing as fast as demand.
(This is my understanding based on what he's relayed to me. Any errors or misrepresentations are most likely mine, not his.)
Not in our lifetime (Score:2, Informative)
It will happen, but it will take a lot longer than any researcher is willing to concede.