World's 1st 'tooth regrowth' medicine moves toward clinical trials in Japan
OSAKA -- A Japanese research team is making progress on the development of a groundbreaking medication that may allow people to grow new teeth, with clinical trials set to begin in July 2024. The tooth regrowth medicine is intended for people who lack a full set of adult teeth due to congenital factors. The team is aiming to have it ready for general use in 2030.
In prior animal experiments, the medicine prompted the growth of "third-generation" teeth following baby teeth and then permanent adult teeth.
Work is now underway to get the drug ready for human use. Once confirmed to have no ill effects on the human body, it will be aimed at treating children aged 2 to 6 who exhibit anodontia. "We hope to pave the way for the medicine's clinical use," Takahashi said.
Medicine could be game-changer
If successful, a drug to regenerate teeth may be a game-changer for the entire field of dentistry. Animals including sharks and some reptile species can continuously regrow teeth. It's been assumed that humans only grow two sets of teeth in their lifetime, but in fact, there is evidence that we also have the "buds" for a third set.
Around 1% of the population exhibits the converse of anodontia: hyperdontia, a congenital condition causing a higher-than-normal number of teeth. According to research by Takahashi's team, one in three such cases manifests as the growth of a third set of teeth. Takahashi believes that in most cases, humans' ability to grow a third set was lost over time.
When the researchers applied the drug to ferrets, they grew an additional seventh front tooth. As the new teeth grew in between the existing front teeth and were of the same
shape, the medicine is thought to have induced the generation of third-set teeth in the animals.
When treatment of teeth is no longer possible due to severe cavities or erosion of the dental sockets, known as pyorrhea, people lose them and need to rely on dental appliances such as dentures. The ability to grow third-generation teeth could change that. "In any case, we're hoping to see a time when tooth-regrowth medicine is a third choice alongside dentures and implants," Takahashi said.
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A new tooth is seen growing in a mouse treated with the tooth regrowth medicine.
