Callum Jones
In a significant breakthrough, the world's first drug that can regrow teeth has been approved for human trials later this year.
There are some 206 bones in the human body, all of which are pretty resilient.
But if they do break, they have a handy way of fixing themselves so that we can get back to normal.
And while teeth are made up of a lot of similar elements seen in bones, they don't unfortunately grow back and repair in the same way.
Advert
So, if you've ever damaged your teeth before, it would likely result in an extraction, which for one is very painful, and two, means you've lost your tooth.
Well, that could all be about to change as the world's first drug that can regrow human teeth is on the way.
The experimental drug developed by Japanese researchers is set to begin with human trials in September, and will include adults who are missing at least one molar.
Katsu Takahashi, the head of dentistry at the medical research institute at Kitano Hospital who are running the project, said: "We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence.
"While there has been no treatment to date providing a permanent cure, we feel that people’s expectations for tooth growth are high."
To get to where we are today the team of researchers has based a study around a particular antibody named Uterine sensitization.
They are associated with gene-1 (USAG-1), which has been shown to inhibit the growth of teeth in ferrets and mice.
Obviously, we don't know for sure the same effect will happen with humans, but that's exactly what the human trials are for.
Takahashi, who is also one of the lead authors on the study, said: "The morphogenesis of individual teeth depends on the interactions of several molecules including BMP, or bone morphogenetic protein, and Wnt signalling.
"We knew that suppressing USAG-1 benefits tooth growth. What we did not know was whether it would be enough."
The expert added: "Ferrets are diphyodont animals with similar dental patterns to humans. Our next plan is to test the antibodies on other animals such as pigs and dogs."
Meanwhile, Manabu Sugai of the University of Fukui and another author of the 2021 study remarked: "Conventional tissue engineering is not suitable for tooth regeneration. Our study shows that cell-free molecular therapy is effective for a wide range of congenital tooth agenesis."
Now, it's only a matter of months before the human trials begin.