New Treatment Makes Teeth Grow Back

Your smile really changes your face, and your teeth really changes your smile. A quick flash of sparkly, straight, pearly whites can really make someone’s day – or knock them off their feet. Unfortunately, many adults face problems with losing teeth for a variety of reasons. Scientists in Japan have developed a treatment that makes teeth grow back, which could change the way we do restorative dentistry
Scientists Develop A Treatment That Makes Teeth Grow Back
Scientists at Kyoto University and the University Fukui in Japan have a new drug that will quite literally make you want to grin from ear-to-ear. So far, they have developed a treatment that makes teeth grow back in various animals and are hoping to eventually have it tried for humans.

They discovered that an antibody for the uterine sensitization associated gene-1 (USAG-1) could stimulate tooth growth in mice suffering from tooth agenesis. This is a rare disease that causes teeth to be missing from birth and affects about 1% of the population.

How They Learned To Regrow Teeth
To figure out how to possibly regrow teeth, the scientists studied what causes people to have more than the regular amount of 32. From there, they identified the molecules responsible for tooth development.

“The morphogenesis of individual teeth depends on the interactions of several molecules including BMP, or bone morphogenetic proteins, and Wnt signaling,” said lead co-author Katsu Takahashi.
Wnt signaling is a pathway responsible for the development of many aspects of the human body and tissues. BMP and Wnt together control the growth and development of many organs and tissues in the body. They start working early-on in the first trimester of a pregnancy before the growing baby is even the size of a grape.

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