Technology

As I have had a really bad run of terrible dentist experiences, bridges are scary and implants are expensive, I'd really like this to work well, and be reasonably priced.

ETA Or, it could be my superhero origin story.

How close are we to growing teeth ANYWHERE we want on the body?

Imagine getting new teeth but all of them are wisdom teeth.

Important to note that the initial form of this treatment is to trigger the growth of teeth that failed to grow in the first place, at least last I read about it. An important first step, but for now it may be dependent on there being an existing "tooth bud" down in the jaw to get going.

I suspect that in the long run we'll need to figure out how to implant a new tooth bud, probably made using the patient's stem cells, to grow replacements for teeth that have been lost later in life.

Ok but hear me out, what happens if you inject it into your feet?

If we regrow teeth, we can regrow bone, muscle, and nerves. Almost immediately, that technology will be privatized and only the rich will be able to afford it.

Capitalism will say "Fuck you poors".

Probably be prohibitively expensive for anyone to do it as an elective procedure.

When I was young I was Tough and Ruthless. Now that I am old I am Rough and Toothless.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

"We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence," lead researcher Katsu Takahashi told Japanese newspaper The Mainichi.

"While there has been no treatment to date providing a permanent cure, we feel that people's expectations for tooth growth are high."

In 2021, his team discovered a gene – uterine sensitization-associated gene-1 (USAG-1) – that appeared to stop the production of additional teeth in mice.

Deactivating that same gene and stopping production of the protein it regulates has also caused other animals to grow lost, or even additional, teeth.

Takahashi and his team have spun up their own company called Toregem Biopharma to commercialize the USAG-1 drug, and hope to have it on the market by 2030.

While initial tests are mainly focused on congenital tooth loss, the team hopes teeth lost due to cavities, injury, and other accidents will be regrowable as well.

The original article contains 427 words, the summary contains 150 words. Saved 65%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

I hope they figure out how to 3d print gum tissue. Harvesting donor tissue from the roof of your mouth certainly works, but is probably the worst part of the recovery.

Seems like it should be doable. But I doubt it's high on the list compared to kidneys, livers, etc.

I wonder what it would do for those of us who have had dental implants.

I had a tooth removed and replaced with a socket bone grafted into my skull to which a crown is bolted. If I were to lose another tooth, what would happen if I took this drug?

That's really cool and exciting. But guys, I need to regrow my gums. I have a perfectly good tooth that a dentist is considering removing because the gum lose around it is profound.

Imagine junkies of this drug would look like tarkatans.

Dentata the movie in real life