Lost a tooth? Maybe you can grow a replacement! #sciencefacts

We humans have a third set of teeth, buried in our jaws as buds. Dentists may be able to coax them to grow and replace a lost tooth.

Mice are specially bred for laboratory use – I don’t know if these guys could survive in the wild.

Japanese researchers found a gene that controls a protein that shuts off tooth growth. Suppress the protein production, and a new tooth could grow. This works in mice, but, of course it does. You can do anything in mice. What about people?

No one told me before, but, apparently, humans have the start of a third set of teeth already embedded in our mouths. This is bad for a tiny fraction of people who spontaneously grow too many teeth for their mouths, but could become a way to treat tooth loss. An upcoming clinical trial could [fingers crossed] lead to new teeth in humans within a decade. “Clinical trials are scheduled to commence in July, 2024. They hope it will be available for dentists to use by 2030.” euronews

As an individual with a mouthful of dental work, including crowns that can’t last forever, this strikes me as hopeful news.

Thanks to Dr Katsu Takahashi, head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospita, and his 2023 paper published in Regenerative Therapy reporting anti-USAG-1 antibody treatment in mice that could offer “a breakthrough in treating tooth anomalies in humans.”