though a drug is being developed that could allow us to regenerate teeth
I think the last time I was this excited about medical science was the COVID vaccine. How I would love to replace my root canal crowns with real teeth!
Comment on Why do teeth don't regenerate?
sun_is_ra@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Your baby teeth and adult teeth all began developing before you were even born. Our DNA still contains all the genes that sharks use to grow their endless conveyor belt of replacement teeth, but in humans these genes are deactivated by the 20th week of foetal development.
The advantages of keeping the same teeth through adulthood is that they can be securely anchored in the jawbone, which allows us to chew tough plants and grains.
www.sciencefocus.com/…/why-cant-we-regrow-teeth
though a drug is being developed that could allow us to regenerate teeth
TheRealKuni@lemmy.world 6 months ago
underwire212@lemm.ee 6 months ago
You’re saying we could reactivate the gene and get infinite teeth?? 🫨
bluGill@kbin.run 6 months ago
Possible, but it may come with downsides you don't like.
sbv@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Let me guess, the downside is infinite teeth.
bluGill@kbin.run 6 months ago
The downside could be something that nobody has imagined yet. That is the problem with change. I'm not against this, but I demand reasonable study. (but not unreasonable levels - vaccines and GMO have been studied enough to conclude they are generally safe despite people yelling more study needed)
jewbacca117@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Imagine teeth grew like our nails and had to be clipped regularly
Pat_Riot@lemmy.today 6 months ago
Stop
x4740N@lemm.ee 6 months ago
I hate that, please stop
SnipingNinja@slrpnk.net 6 months ago
Rodents then?
MeekerThanBeaker@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Teething 3.0.
Tanoh@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Subscription based teeth?
nicknonya@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
worse, you have to pay to stop them from growing
Mongostein@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Isn’t this the Street Sharks origin story?
jaybone@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Are those the snapping guys in West Side Story?
jaybone@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Side effects may include dry mouth, diarrhea, attacking swimmers at the beach. Do not take Teethenall if you are allergic to shellfish.
masquenox@lemmy.world 6 months ago
That I could live with.
whoisearth@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Vagina teeth? That’s my fetish.
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I could be wrong, but I don’t think that’s how the drugs in development work. They cause the existing teeth to produce more enamel or something.
originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 6 months ago
you are wrong. all their tests are on subjects missing teeth, not with reduced enamel. this is literally growing replacement teeth.
https://newatlas.com/medical/tooth-regrowing-human-trial/
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I stand corrected. Thanks!
I was thinking of this:
…washington.edu/trials-begin-on-lozenge-that-rebu…
But your link is far more exciting.
Rhaedas@fedia.io 6 months ago
Hopefully that's what it ends up being, as the idea of growing new teeth has been around in science and media for a long time.
Rhaedas@fedia.io 6 months ago
The latest work I've seen reactivates the genes to start growing any existing teeth that had stopped. It's for early development problems in children, not for adults. But of course the media seized on the "regrow teeth" part and ran with it. Unless there's a way to implant new teeth seeds and then get them going, adults are still out of luck.
5wim@slrpnk.net 6 months ago
Slotos@feddit.nl 6 months ago
Teeth cannot produce enamel. Enamel is not a living tissue and it was produced by cells outside of the tooth in a coral-like manner. In order to grow a new tooth, you need it to be fully surrounded by specialized living tissue for the whole growth cycle.
PS: I honestly expected something like this to come out of bioelectric computation research, but progress seems slower there. Or rather knowledge and techniques in other fields is reaching critical mass, giving us these advances.
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Maybe “grow” isn’t the right word, but I was thinking of these lozenges that made headlines a few years ago.
TheFriar@lemm.ee 6 months ago
That sorta makes it sound like a nightmare