Scientists have reached one step closer to developing replacement teeth in the laboratory – an evolution that could pave the way for new alternatives to unpleasant dental fills and radical channels.
The group developed a special material that allows cells to communicate with each other exactly as they would have in the body, allowing them to evolve into teeth cells, the researchers reported in a study published in the journal ACS Macro Letters.
The process allows scientists to cultivate teeth from a patient’s cells in the laboratory. One day, it could allow replacement of damaged or infected teeth of real teeth, instead of being repaired using fillings and other dental procedures.
People usually develop two sets 6 months of age and then gradually replaced by 32 adult teeth starting with about 6 years old.
Some animals, such as sharks or crocodiles, can constantly replace missing teeth, but humans are limited to these two sets. This is due to the fact that animals that can replace their teeth never lose the stem cells of the teeth that allow them to constantly develop new teeth. People, on the contrary, do not maintain these active regenerative cells after Adult teeth come.
When our teeth are damaged, dentists restore the cavities with fillings or replace teeth with artificial tooth implants. However, these solutions cannot be repaired and may need to be replaced.
“Fills are not the best solution for tooth repair,” the co-author of the study Xuechen zhangResearcher at King’s College London, said in a statement. “Over time, they will weaken the structure of the teeth. They will have a limited lifetime and can lead to further decomposition or sensitivity.”
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In the meantime, teeth implants require invasive surgery, usually in multiple appointments, and can risk infection and damage to the surrounding teeth and gums.
“Both solutions are artificial and do not fully restore the natural function of the teeth, possibly leading to long -term complications,” Zhang said.
For years, scientists at King’s College London have been working in a teeth cultivation process, which includes imitation of the way teeth grow in the body. They start teeth grow up from stem cells During the early fetal growth, with stem cells from different types of embryonic tissue “talking” to each other using signaling molecules to activate the formation of teeth. The stem cells are differentiated in various forms of cells, which then secrete the materials that eventually make the tooth, such as enamel, dentin and cement.
In the new study, the researchers described how they made a critical discovery by developing a material that allowed stem cells to communicate as they would have in the body. The material was made of hydrogel-a soft, peculiar material that can absorb large amounts of water-and mimics the environment around the cells of the body, known as the uterus.
“This meant that when we introduced the cultivated cells, they were able to send signals to each other to start the process of forming tooth,” Zhang said. “Previous attempts have failed, as all the signals were sent with one touch. This new material releases signals slowly over time, reproducing what happens to the body.”
Such tooth replacements would be longer, stronger and much less likely to be rejected by the body, which occurs between 5 and 10% of teeth implants.
“Laboratory teeth will naturally be regenerated, incorporating into the jaw as real teeth,” Zhang explained.
Researchers are far from implanting a replacement tooth in a human patient. They are currently working to understand the best way to introduce a tooth into the body.
“We have different ideas to put teeth in the mouth,” Zhang said. “We could transplant young teeth cells to the missing tooth place and let them grow in [the] mouth. Alternatively, we could create the whole tooth in the lab before placing it in the patient’s mouth. For both options, we need to start the very early tooth development process. ”
Despite these challenges, growth could pave the way for new alternatives to fillings and implants.
“As the field evolves, the incorporation of such innovative techniques holds the ability to revolutionize dental care, offering sustainable and effective solutions for the repair and regeneration of teeth”. Ana Angelova Volponisaid in a statement by a researcher at King’s College London.
