Scientists have successfully grown human teeth in a lab for the first time in a move that could ‘revolutionise dental care’.
The breakthrough could lead to patients regrowing teeth they have lost, offering an alternative to fillings or dental implants, researchers at King’s College London said.
The team has developed a material that mimics the environment in which teeth grow, enabling human cells to send signals and begin forming a tooth.
Unlike animals like sharks and elephants who have the ability to grow new teeth, humans only have one set from adulthood, the scientists say.
The ability to regenerate teeth would therefore mark a major development in the field of dentistry.
While implants and fillings cannot adapt over time, the study’s lab-grown tooth made from a patient’s cells could integrate into the jaw, repairing itself in the same way natural teeth do.
The study, carried out in collaboration with Imperial College London, has been more than a decade in the making.
Xuechen Zhang, researcher at the King’s College London’s Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, said: ‘Fillings aren’t the best solution for repairing teeth.
‘Over time, they will weaken tooth structure, have a limited lifespan, and can lead to further decay or sensitivity.
‘Implants require invasive surgery and a good combination of implants and alveolar bone. Both solutions are artificial and don’t fully restore natural tooth function, potentially leading to long-term complications.
‘Lab-grown teeth would naturally regenerate, integrating into the jaw as real teeth.
‘They would be stronger, longer-lasting, and free from rejection risks, offering a more durable and biologically compatible solution than fillings or implants.’
Researchers are now exploring two possible approaches to developing lab-grown teeth.
The first approach would involve growing a whole tooth in the lab before implanting it.
Alternatively, early-stage tooth cells would be placed directly into a patient’s jaw where they could continue developing.
Mr Zhang added: ‘We have different ideas to put the teeth inside the mouth.
‘We could transplant the young tooth cells at the location of the missing tooth and let them grow inside the mouth.’
Dr Ana Angelova-Volponi, director of regenerative dentistry at King’s College London, said: ‘As the field progresses, the integration of such innovative techniques holds the potential to revolutionise dental care, offering sustainable and effective solutions for tooth repair and regeneration.’
As oral health inequality grows in the UK, patients have resorted to do-it-yourself dentistry, such as pulling out their own teeth, when they are unable to access NHS treatment.
Polling by the British Dental Association (BDA) has revealed that 82% of dentists are treating gruesome cases of DIY dentistry.
Karen Stone, 61, from Suffolk, told Metro she has been left with seven teeth after resorting to DIY dentistry, including pulling out her own teeth, because she was unable to book an appointment with a dentist.
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