Science & Technology

Future dentists could regrow missing teeth

By T.K. Randall
March 9, 2013 ·  14 comments

Image Credit: Cody Black Losing a tooth in the future may not be so much of a problem as it is today, scientists have discovered a way to replace missing teeth by growing new ones using cells taken from the patient's own mouth. The technique combines human epithelial cells with mesenchymal stem cells from mice to facilitate regrowth, removing the need for dentures and making the loss of a tooth a lot less permanent.

"Epithelial cells derived from adult human gum tissue are capable of responding to tooth-inducing signals from embryonic tooth mesenchyme in an appropriate way to contribute to tooth crown and root formation," said Professor Paul Sharpe who led the research.

Source: Guardian Unlimited | Comments (14)

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