When you lose a tooth, you have many options available. You could have your tooth replaced with a dental implant, a bridge, or dentures. However, in the future, it may also be possible to have your tooth replaced with a new tooth. Research is being conducted into the genes and tissues that are responsible for regrowing teeth.
Researchers Have Grown Teeth in a Laboratory
Researchers have managed to grow parts of a tooth in a laboratory. Genes can be added to tissue found in extracted teeth. Then, when placed in moist conditions, the teeth can be grown in a culture. These tooth parts grown in a lab may soon be used to test new filling materials, and it may also be possible in the future to grow new teeth that can become a part of a denture or that could even be grown in the same location as the lost tooth.
The Genes and Cells That Make a Tooth Have Been identified
Scientists have identified the tooth genes that trigger the regrowth of teeth. They have also identified the lamia cells that determine when the teeth are regrown. These genes exist in humans as well as in animals. They are the genes that allow humans to develop baby teeth. For dentists to be able to facilitate the regrowth of teeth, they will need to be able to control when the cells responsible for the regrowth of a tooth become active and must also ensure that these cells are preserved so they are available when needed.
How the Procedure Might Work
One way in which teeth might be regrown through lamia cells is to create buds that are then placed in the tooth sockets. It is expected that adults would experience the same pain from budding teeth as children who are having their permanent teeth come in for the first time.
A Dentistry Revolution Is on the Horizon
The ability to grow new teeth would be a major game-changer for the dentistry industry since natural teeth are considered to be preferable to artificial teeth. The event of losing a tooth would be a much less life-changing event, since patients would have one additional way to respond to such an event. It may be many years before it is possible to regrow teeth, but in the meantime, your dentist will be able to give you dental implants that are almost as good as your natural teeth. Talk to groups such as Esthetic Dental Group LLC for more information about dental care such as dental implants.
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