Groundbreaking tooth regrowing drug being developed: ‘Every dentist’s dream’

Prepare yourself — a new drug that may regrow your natural teeth is being developed.

Scientists in Japan are presently developing medicine that would enable patients to cultivate a fresh row of teeth, with clinical trials planned for July 2024, according to the nation’s national daily, the Mainichi.

“The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist’s dream,” Dr. Katsu Takahashi, a chief scientist and director of the odontology and oral surgery division at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital, informed the publication.

“I’ve been working on this since I was a graduate student. I was confident I’d be able to make it happen,” Takahashi added.

The groundbreaking new medication aids in addressing individuals who lack a complete array of grown-up teeth because of “congenital factors,” and scientists affirm it may be accessible to the public by 2030.

If it succeeds, it will be the initial medication globally that will enable individuals to regrow their teeth.

Takahashi has been developing this medication at Kyoto University since approximately 2005 and discovered that in rodents, there existed a specific gene that influenced the development of their dental structures.

The gene’s antibody named USAG-1, may assist in promoting tooth development if it is inhibited, a phenomenon that Takahashi further examined in a 2021 research paper published in Science Advances.

Scientists have subsequently endeavored to create a “neutralizing antibody medication” that has the capability to obstruct USAG-1. Upon conducting trials on mice and ferrets, scientists observed that the creatures were capable of generating fresh teeth.

The medication would aid individuals with a rare hereditary condition referred to as anodontia, which denotes a complete “lack of teeth,” as stated by the Cleveland Clinic, because of their failure to form.

Those who suffer from this condition can experience a deficiency of infant teeth and/or fully grown teeth and may lack six or more teeth, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Takahashi aims for the drug to serve as an alternative for individuals lacking a complete set of teeth.

“In any case, we’re hoping to see a time when tooth-regrowth medicine is a third choice alongside dentures and implants,” Takahashi mentioned to the outlet.

Following the required examinations, scientists aim to render it accessible to address young ones aged 2 to 6 exhibiting indications of anodontia, as per the Mainichi.

“We hope to pave the way for the medicine’s clinical use,” he noted.

Nevertheless, this research is not unique to those who have accomplished advancements in human organ rejuvenation.

Back in 2018, researchers at the University of Washington medical school created a mechanized framework that permitted robots to generate miniature human organs fabricated from stem cells.

Also, during April 2022, researchers at Columbia University developed a collection of authentic human organs that engage with a microchip.

The leader of the research managed to produce, “human heart, bone, liver and skin that are linked by vascular flow with circulating immune cells.”