While bones can grow back after they break, teeth aren’t so lucky, leaving millions of people around the world with some form of edentulism.
Now, Japanese researchers are putting a promising tooth-regenerating drug into human trials.
If the trials are successful, researchers hope the drug could be used to treat all forms of tooth loss by around 2030.
The average adult has 206 bones in their bodies, which are a hardened mix of calcium, minerals, and collagen that provide us with the biological scaffolding that gets us through our days. Although we may rarely think about them, bones are incredibly resilient. But if they break, they have this neat trick: they can regenerate themselves.
Teeth, however, are not bones. While teeth are made of some of the same stuff and are the hardest substance in the human body (thanks to their protective layer of enamel), they lack the crucial ability to repair and regenerate themselves. But that may not always be the case. Japanese researchers are advancing an experimental drug that promises to regenerate human teeth. Human trials begin in September 2024.
“We wanted to do something to help people who have lost or missing teeth,” Masaru Takahashi, director of dentistry at Kitano Hospital’s Medical Research Institute in Osaka, told the Mainichi Shimbun. “While there has been no treatment to date that can permanently heal teeth, we feel that people have high expectations for tooth growth.”
The development is the result of years of research into a specific antibody called uterine sensitization-associated gene 1 (USAG-1), which has been shown to inhibit tooth growth in ferrets and mice. Back in 2021, scientists at Kyoto University, who will also be involved in future human trials, found a monoclonal antibody (a technique often used to fight cancer) that disrupts the interaction between USAG-1 and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) molecules.
“We knew that inhibiting USAG-1 was good for tooth growth. But we didn’t know if it was enough,” said Katsu Takahashi of Kyoto University, a co-author of the study, in a press statement at the time. “Ferrets are dicynodonts, and the shape of their teeth is similar to that of humans.”
Now, scientists will see how similar the drug is, as similar trials are underway in humans. The study will last 11 months and focus on 30 men aged between 30 and 64, each of whom is missing at least one tooth. The drug will be administered intravenously to prove its effectiveness and safety, and fortunately, previous animal studies have not reported any side effects.
If all goes well, Kitano Hospital will implement the treatment on patients aged 2 to 7 who are missing at least four teeth, with the ultimate goal of developing tooth regeneration drugs by 2030. Although these treatments are currently mainly for patients who are born with congenital tooth loss, Takahashi hopes that everyone who has lost a tooth can receive treatment.
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