Teeth regrowth: Scientists develop a groundbreaking new drug to create a new set of teeth

Aug 15 (nationalworld.com) - A groundbreaking drug which will allow humans to grow teeth is now heading to human trials.

Researchers in Japan are developing a medicine that will enable people to regrow their teeth to replace the ones that get lost.

Clinical human trials will commence in 2024 after the researchers have already proven it can trigger tooth growth in mice and ferrets.

Dr Katsu Takahashi, head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital, has been working on the drug since his graduate student days, in the early nineties.

The research team has already successfully grown a "third-generation" of teeth, after the first round baby teeth and then permanent adult teeth was successful in animal models. Researchers targeted a gene called USAG-1, which has been found to limit tooth growth in mice. Takahashi’s team induced tooth regrowth in mice and ferrets. ...continue reading

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