(By Dr. Joseph D. Lim and Dr. Kenneth Lester Lim, BS-MMG, DDM, MSc-OI)
IT’S A PROCESS that has nothing to do with Taal and Kanlaon, both recently exhibiting signs of restlessness.
It’s called an eruption, the early stage in our lives baby teeth is lost. It sets the opening for stronger permanent teeth.
Trivia: rabbits never stop regrowing their teeth, a process not available to humans – except for that first set of baby teeth. Indeed, is it possible at all to regrow our teeth?
It’s not for lack of trying. Therapeutics, stem cells, gene-editing – all are being tried in the effort to regrow teeth.
Bioengineering may have the answer. Scientists are now toying with the idea of using stem cells inside the tooth to regrow tooth.
“If we can learn how other animals are able to regrow their teeth from stem cells, we could actually really grow a full, new tooth in vitro,” Dr. Ophir Klein, a professor of orofacial sciences and pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, tells Harri Elizabeth Weber of Popular Science.
“The tooth, by itself, is one challenge, getting it to become part of bone, integrating into your jaw, is another aspect of regeneration,” Dr. Salvador Nares, a professor in the periodontics department at the University of Illinois, Chicago’s College of Dentistry, tells the magazine. “Ultimately, the vision would be to seed, if you will, some sort of capsule or something within the gum tissue, and then let it grow out into a tooth.”
Then again, the tooth has to stop growing “because if it keeps growing, then that’s called cancer,” says Dr. Nares.
His colleague, Dr. Afsar Naqvi, an associate professor, says gene editing is very promising. That is, he says, using patients’ own cell types, guiding them into the desired cell type, and using it for repair and regeneration.
Then there’s an antibody drug that targets a gene (USAG-1) which is not specific to the dental tissues. Dr. Naqvi, however, raises the question: what if beyond tooth growth, “it affects our bone growth in a positive, negative, or whatever manner? It has to be controlled.”
Regrown tooth may still be far away as things stand now, what with safety issues, safety trials on humans, regulatory rules, and more research and development that need to be conducted.
Be satisfied with what you have. Our unique teeth has grown through millennia of evolution, and its suitable as it is for that perfect smile, not to say of being able to bite and chew through our nutrition needs.
Just be sure to brush after every meal, at least twice a day – and floss. And don’t forget to visit the dentist for cleaning.
Remember, keep all the germs away – they cause tooth decay, cavities and gum disease and loosen teeth in the long run.
As it is, dentures and implants are our best alternative to lost tooth./PN
