Scientists Want To Fix Tooth Decay With Stem Cells (economist.com) 39
Once tooth decay has set in, all a dentist can do is fill the gap with an artificial plug -- a filling. But in a paper published in Cell, Hannele Ruohola-Baker, a stem-cell biologist at the University of Washington, and her colleagues offer a possible alternative. Economist: Stem cells are those that have the capacity to turn themselves into any other type of cell in the body. It may soon be possible, the researchers argue, to use those protean cells to regrow a tooth's enamel naturally. The first step was to work out exactly how enamel is produced. That is tricky, because enamel-making cells, known as ameloblasts, disappear soon after a person's adult teeth have finished growing. To get round that problem, the researchers turned to samples of tissue from human foetuses that had been aborted, either medically or naturally. Such tissues contain plenty of functioning ameloblasts. The researchers then checked to see which genes were especially active in the enamel-producing cells. Tooth enamel is made mostly of calcium phosphate, and genes that code for proteins designed to bind to calcium were particularly busy. They also assessed another type of cell called odontoblasts. These express genes that produce dentine, another type of hard tissue that lies beneath the outer enamel. Armed with that information, Dr Ruohola-Baker and her colleagues next checked to see whether the stem cells could be persuaded to transform into ameloblasts.
The team devised a cocktail of drugs designed to activate the genes that they knew were expressed in functioning ameloblasts. That did the trick, with the engineered ameloblasts turning out the same proteins as the natural sort. A different cocktail pushed the stem cells to become odontoblasts instead. Culturing the cells together produced what researchers call an organoid -- a glob of tissue in a petri dish which mimics a biological organ. The organoids happily churned out the chemical components of enamel. Having both cell types seemed to be crucial: when odontoblasts were present alongside ameloblasts, genes coding for enamel proteins were more strongly expressed than with ameloblasts alone. For now, the work is more a proof of concept than a prototype of an imminent medical treatment. The next step, says Dr Ruohola-Baker, is to try to boost enamel production even further, with a view to eventually beginning clinical trials. The hope is that, one day, medical versions of the team's organoids could be used as biological implants, to regenerate a patient's decayed teeth.
The team devised a cocktail of drugs designed to activate the genes that they knew were expressed in functioning ameloblasts. That did the trick, with the engineered ameloblasts turning out the same proteins as the natural sort. A different cocktail pushed the stem cells to become odontoblasts instead. Culturing the cells together produced what researchers call an organoid -- a glob of tissue in a petri dish which mimics a biological organ. The organoids happily churned out the chemical components of enamel. Having both cell types seemed to be crucial: when odontoblasts were present alongside ameloblasts, genes coding for enamel proteins were more strongly expressed than with ameloblasts alone. For now, the work is more a proof of concept than a prototype of an imminent medical treatment. The next step, says Dr Ruohola-Baker, is to try to boost enamel production even further, with a view to eventually beginning clinical trials. The hope is that, one day, medical versions of the team's organoids could be used as biological implants, to regenerate a patient's decayed teeth.
This has a Jurassic Park feel to it (Score:3, Funny)
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
I am all for not have a mouth full of filled cavities, but has anyone thought through potential side effects of this process. That a person will grow a mouthful of velociraptor teeth?
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That a person will grow a mouthful of velociraptor teeth?
I was thinking it would go more like this: https://imgur.com/a/rRd58mv [imgur.com]
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"Lisa needs braces."
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has anyone thought through potential side effects of this process.
Nope, nobody has. Thanks for bringing that up! Whew, that was a close one.
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"mouthful of velociraptor teeth"
Not seeing a downside here...
That said, obviously we'd monitor the process and intervene if things go wonky.
I'm missing a tooth right now (youth injury). I wouldn't object to a six month or so process and just grow a new one.
Re: This has a Jurassic Park feel to it (Score:1)
Please let this become reality. (Score:1)
I have had some truly horrible experiences in the dentist chair.
I also hate, Hate, HATE the taste of mint, which makes it difficult to brush teeth. (I do it, because I have to, but I know I probably don't brush as long as I should.)
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HATE the taste of mint, which makes it difficult to brush teeth
Crest makes a cinnamon paste and I think Reach makes cinnamon floss, not always easy to find.
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HATE the taste of mint, which makes it difficult to brush teeth
Crest makes a cinnamon paste and I think Reach makes cinnamon floss, not always easy to find.
Not available in Canada. At least not last time I checked.
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I'm certain I've even seen them ship bubblegum flavor.
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I also hate, Hate, HATE the taste of mint, which makes it difficult to brush teeth.
You can get toothpaste in other flavors, like cinnamon, chocolate and bacon [amazon.com]. (has links to other flavors)
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Clearer?
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Toothpaste isn't necessary to brush your teeth. Fluoride is a cavity preventative, but the rest is just abrasives, flavors, and foaming agents.
Get on it (Score:2)
Well, get on it, then.
Scientists, dentists, etc. have been talking for decades at this point about this general approach to fixing teeth since the 1990s. Regrow the tooth, fix it with stem cells, et cetera... and nobody's doing it.
Why?
Re: Get on it (Score:4, Insightful)
A couple of years back, I talked with my dentist about these stem cells based treatments aimed at regrowing teeth or part of them. The problem isn't growing them but stopping the the process: so far it always devolves into cancer.
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Well, that's a pretty good reason, then!
House Episode (Score:1)
Yap. Yap. Yap. Do something real already. (Score:1)
Damn Scientists (Score:1)
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What a bunch of jerks for wanting to improve society. The Amish have it all figured out. All the technology developed over the first few ten thousand years worth of human development is all humanity needs. Everything past that point is the work of the devil.
According to a few articles [google.com], the Amish actually do use some modern technology, but are selective about it and are, apparently, also okay with using other people's tech while not wanting to own/have those themselves, which seems a little hypocritical to me...
-- Amish Studies: Technology [etown.edu]
-- How the Amish Use Technology [wired.com]
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okay with using other people's tech while not wanting to own/have those themselves, which seems a little hypocritical to me...
Not really. Their choice to live the way they do is by not having a permanency to modern life. So long as that object does not say with them, it's fine.
That said, you will see some Amish with cell phones. These are used for their business. You will not see them with their heads buried in that phone. In some case, I've heard, the phone stays outside the house and they pick it up
Culture war prediction #23 (Score:2, Insightful)
You then won't be able to fill a cavity in red states because there's a "living fetus inside it". Then again, dentistry never was a top request there.
I know of 2 non-filling ways to "fix" cavities. (Score:3)
Humans can remineralize their bones and teeth over time. We do it in the first place, right? When we're growing the first time. The question was only, can we trigger it again on purpose. Or how much does it happen throughout life.
Yes, but it uses nutrients and vitamins (which you can't patent for the most part) so nobody is spending the money to prove anything. I'm talking about vitamin D, A, K2, etc. The first few I listed are connected to calcium absorption, transport, and use. Relative concentrations in our bodies seem to matter a lot, but that's not common knowledge by MD's. They still want to look at each part separately.
Oh, your vitamin D is low. Let's raise it! Ignore that it tells your body to absorb calcium, and it might have lost the vitamin D on purpose to balance out the low magnesium levels you're not improving. Calcium ions are used to contract muscles, and magnesium ions let muscles relax again. Most of us don't eat many dark leafy greens, and it wouldn't matter anyway because we're reusing the same depleted soils to grow our food (can't absorb something to pass along to whoever eats you if it doesn't exist in the first place).
Now I'm blindly trying out a plan that aims to match natural vitamin A vs. D levels. They also point to animal versions, not plant based that our bodies might be bad at converting and activating (like beta carotene vs. retinol). It's like the activated vs. not forms of B vitamins. Businesses act like they're all the same/equivalent, but if your body isn't activating the substance it won't matter how many substrates you're feeding into it. It's like tossing a ton of emptied alkaline batteries through a system and being surprised that they're not powering anything.
Also you know how fluoride is a common conflict point in dentistry? How is it supposed to work for the "yea" people, do you know? It reacts with the outside of our teeth. Creating a new outer layer that's stronger then dentin (the initial natural outer strong layer).
No I'm not a dentist, and I haven't become an expert in all of this (yet). But there are at least 2 other things we already know today that could help cavities in teeth, beyond whatever you're selling... sorry, I mean talking, about.
New Colgate Total-F (Score:2)
"The F Doesn't Stand For Fluoride!"
Active ingredients: Stannous fluoride, Tetrasodium pyrophosphate, * fetus
* Contains 1.5% fetus by mass
* Consult your local clergyman
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The best stem cells to use for something like this are ones derived from the skin of the person who wants a new tooth. Simply convert the skin cells to adult stem cells (which we know how to do) and then convert the adult stem cells into a tooth bud.
NIH (Score:2)
Not invented here. I believe Japanese researchers have been working on this for at least a decade if not longer, and if not others. This person just has a better PR apparatus.
How far we've come! (Score:2)
I remember being excited when first reading about this in 2004. Hopefully we'll have this type of therapy by the time I lose all of my teeth!