Regrowing Teeth a Real Possibility
The bones in our body can regrow when they break, but there’s no hope for the teeth once they’ve been lost without fake prosthetics.
We all get one set of adult teeth, which means if something happens to them, you won’t ever get them back – and total tooth loss is a real problem, not just in the UK, where 75% of the population does not have a full set of teeth, but around the world.
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Can dentists regrow teeth?
At the time of writing (December 2024), it’s not yet possible to regrow missing teeth. The only way missing teeth patients can replace teeth is with dentures, bridges, or dental implants. However, something exciting is on the horizon. Perhaps in the next decade or so, new treatments will become available for patients to regrow their teeth.
Missing teeth dentistry might look very different in 15 years
Did you know that human trials started this September in Japan to test a drug for tooth-regrowing medicine? After seeing success with no notable side effects promoting third-generation teeth growth in mice, ferrets and dogs, the tooth-growing drug is scheduled to begin human trials in September 2024. If the trial is successful, the treatment drug that regrows teeth might be available in 2039 to help treat all forms of tooth loss. However, the goal is to have tooth regrowth medicine available from 2030 – only five years away!
“We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,” Katsu Takahashi, the head of dentistry at the medical research institute at Kitano Hospital in Osaka and co-author of the study, told The Mainichi.
The research and science behind the drug
The drug’s development is based on a specific focus on an antibody typically used to treat cancer. The antibody, called Uterine sensitisation-associated gene-1 (USAG-1), a molecule that inhibits bone growth proteins, successfully regrew teeth in ferrets and mice in 2021 by disrupting the interaction between USAG-1 and molecules known as bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). From the success seen in Ferrets, diphyodont animals that have similar dental patterns to humans, Takahashi said: “We knew that suppressing USAG-1 benefits tooth growth. We did not know whether it would be enough.”
Moving on to human trials
To see just how similar human dental patterns are to ferrets, the human trials began in September at Kyoto University Hospital, with plans for the trials to last 11 months (until August 2025) and focus on the effects of the drug on 30 males aged between 30 and 64, all of whom have a least one missing tooth. The drug will be administered intravenously, and no side effects have been reported in animal studies; therefore, the human trials are promising.
After Phase I trials were finalised in August and the drug’s safety was confirmed, the next phase is to test the drug in children aged 2 to 7 with four or more congenitally missing teeth.
If the second phase of the trial is successful, the goal is to commercialise the drug and have it ready for purchase by the end of 2030 for patients who have lost teeth due to gum disease or other injuries. Researchers hope it will provide an alternative that stands out from existing treatments such as dentures and implants. But until it’s finalised, we won’t know more about the process or how painful regrowing teeth might be. Have a question? Email us at hello@myodental.co.uk.
For whom is the treatment focused for
Currently, the drug focuses on treating patients with congenital tooth deficiency, specifically hypodontia, a condition in which patients are born without teeth or have never developed them.
With the success in this area, we can only expect the drug to be expanded and become available to anyone who’s ever lost a tooth, regardless of the reason. For now, patients with missing teeth still have only three options: a denture, a bridge, or a dental implant. If you’re in Surrey and need help with missing teeth, you’ll only want to call MyoDental Weybridge Surrey on 01932 989785.
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