In Japan, the drug for tooth regrowth is being tested: towards an innovative solution for the problems of anodontia and hyperdontia
In Tokyo, Japan, a research team is hard at work on an innovative tooth-regrowth drug, the Japanese newspaper reported. The Mainichi. The team aims to begin clinical trials in July 2024 and could be ready for public use by 2030. Currently, the tooth regrowth medicine is not for everyone, but for those who don’t have everything. teeth due to congenital factors. About 1% of the population suffers, in fact, from he dances, a condition that prevents the growth of the series that makes up the adult dentition. One tenth of this population are missing six or more teeth, making it very difficult to chew, swallow and speak properly.
The gene that inhibits tooth growth
One of the most important parts of tooth regrowth research has been studying a certain gene in mice. The researchers found that the lack of a specific gene in the mice encouraged them to grow more teeth. Based on this information, the researchers conducted experiments to neutralize a protein that inhibits this gene, allowing mice to grow new teeth. In 2021, the research team published a scientific paper on this project in the United States.
The principal investigator of the tooth regrowth research team is Katsu Takahashi, who works at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka City. He graduated in dentistry before studying molecular biology at Kyoto University and then traveled to the United States to further his studies on the subject. His goal, since his graduation, has been to develop this drug.
From experimenting on mice to hoping for a natural alternative to dental prosthetics
Researchers are now preparing to move from mouse experiments to human trials. Hopefully, children between the ages of two and six will be able to start using the drug for tooth regrowth. It’s best to start regrowth early in a person’s life so they don’t have to struggle with chewing and other problems that come with missing teeth. If lack of teeth is certainly a problem for humans, the opposite problem also exists for another 1% of the population, called iperdontia. It is a condition that can cause a person to have more teeth than normal. In some cases, it allows the person to grow a third set of teeth after the baby teeth and adult teeth have fallen out. If this tooth regrowth medicine is a success, it could be a great natural alternative to dentures and dental implants, which can also be painful and expensive.
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