Researchers at King's College London in the United Kingdom have discovered that Tideglusib, a drug designed to regrow brain cells in patients living with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, can stimulate the stem cells contained in the pulp of teeth. This discovery generates enough dentine - the hard, calcified tissue beneath the outer enamel surface in teeth - and naturally regenerates the damaged teeth, substantially reducing the need for artificial fillings.
Previous work by the team has shown that
Tideglusib stimulates stem cells in the center of the tooth, triggering them to develop into odontoblasts (specialized tooth cells) and boosting the production of dentine, allowing larger defects to be reversed. Professor Paul Sharpe, lead author of the study, commented:
"The simplicity of our approach makes it ideal as a clinical dental product for the
natural treatment of large cavities, by providing both pulp protection and restoring dentine. In addition, using a drug that has already been tested in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease provides a real opportunity to get this dental treatment quickly into clinics."
In the trial conducted on mice, the team showed that when the damaged tooth was filled with a biodegradable sponge soaked in Tideglusib, the tooth gradually rebuilt cavities extending from the surface to the root. The cavity was then covered with a cap made from a glass compound, as, although the dentine regrows, the drug does not help enamel to regrow. In the study published in
Scientific Reports, the researchers explain:
"The restoration of dentine lost in deep caries lesions in teeth is a routine and common treatment that involves the use of inorganic cements based on calcium or silicon-based mineral aggregates. Such cements remain in the tooth and fail to degrade and thus normal mineral volume is never completely restored. This novel, biological approach to dentine restoration stimulates the
natural formation of reparative dentine via the mobilization of resident stem cells in the tooth pulp.
"Biodegradable, clinically-approved collagen sponges are used to deliver low doses of small molecule glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3) antagonists that promote the natural processes of reparative dentine formation to completely restore dentine. Since the carrier sponge is degraded over time, dentine replaces the degraded sponge leading to a complete, effective natural repair. This simple, rapid natural tooth repair process could thus potentially provide a new approach to clinical tooth restoration."
Currently, dentists use materials such as dental amalgam, composite and cement to treat larger cavities and fill the holes in teeth. But these traditional fillings not only weaken the tooth and leave it prone to infections; the tooth is usually extracted after undergoing multiple treatments. However,
the new method, claim the researchers, could reduce the need for man-made fillings as teeth regenerated using Tideglusib would be as good as new."The novel, biological approach could see teeth use their natural ability to repair large cavities rather than using cements or fillings, which are prone to infections and often need replacing a number of times. Indeed when fillings fail or infection occurs, dentists have to remove and fill an area that is larger than what is affected, and after multiple treatments the tooth may eventually need to be extracted. As this new method encourages natural tooth repair, it could eliminate all of these issues, providing a more natural solution for patients."
© King's College, LondonAn image showing repair after four weeks (left) and six weeks (right).
The method is currently being tested in rats, and there's a lot more research to be done to confirm if the results can be replicated in humans. However, the first human clinical trials are expected later this year; and because the drug has passed its safety tests in humans, the researchers believe it could be used on humans within three to five years.
Reader Comments
It always comes down to the protection of a few mega corporations.
as to fantastical things such as free energy, what happened to the law of conservation?
Russians claim they can now grow new teeth using implanted shark cells. Canadians claim their ultrasonic device is in the testing phases, completely repairs everything and gives teenagerhood-strength bite (do you still remember, how fiercely you could bite then?), if the root is still there.
Info:
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White paper:
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This study found the device not effective: no difference between healing rate of placebo and the LIPUS device was found.
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It should have been a large difference with LIPUS. Are LIPUS creators missing something? ((from the ancient tech that was surely working?))
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Russian shark teeth tech:
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Other curious article:
I read this couple years ago: There was a very old lady, over 100, who lost most of her teeth, then began growing new teeth, like a child. The journalist guessed maybe she simply reached a new life cycle and its natural to cyclically regrow teeth... and we should live a lot longer than mere 70~100? Maybe it was just retaining ancient genes in her case.