back to article Japanese scientists propose drug to regrow teeth, promise trials won't bite

Japanese researchers plan to begin human trials of a tooth regrowth drug this fall at Kyoto University Hospital following successful animal trials. The first stage of tests will begin in September and run through 2025 involving 30 adult males. A following round will test the drug on children between the ages of two and seven …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dentists everywhere utterly inconsolable

    Ah well!

    1. Snowy Silver badge
      Holmes

      Re: Dentists everywhere utterly inconsolable

      They will be even happier, tooth looks bad, pull it out and regrow it. Is there limit to the number of times you can pull and regrow t

      1. biddibiddibiddibiddi Bronze badge

        Re: Dentists everywhere utterly inconsolable

        I read recently a study found that things like the need for fillings are greatly over-diagnosed anyway, so this is just one more thing for them to do. But a single tooth can need multiple fillings that each cost 50-100% as much as an extraction, so pulling and re-growing might be less profitable. I had close to 100 in my adult life before my last dentist finally told me to stop trying because it was a waste of money due to there not being enough of anything left to hold them together for long periods, and I just had the remainder (only half left) pulled. Unless you can only get the drug directly from your dentist (or most likely they'll get kickbacks for prescribing a particular brand), and it requires them to monitor you with weekly visits for months, and then they can tell you that you need braces to straighten the new tooth and line it up with the others. Oh, and it's not the same color, so you need to have whitening treatments.

    2. Michael 66

      Re: Dentists everywhere utterly inconsolable

      THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS ONE TRICK!

      1. Excused Boots Silver badge

        Re: Dentists everywhere utterly inconsolable

        THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS ONE TRICK!

        THIS ONE WiERD TRICK, shirley!

  2. Archivist

    Yes please!

    2030? Damn it's too late - or I'm too early?

    1. Joe W Silver badge

      Re: Yes please!

      I guess I'll be late when that finally materialises...

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    This could be big

    Bacteria associated with dental decay are linked to many major illnesses throughout the body including heart disease and dementia. If we could just pull the offending tooth and grow a new one, then the beneficial health effects could be sizeable.

    1. Snowy Silver badge
      Holmes

      Re: This could be big

      Dentist win by pulling even more teeth.

      1. Michael Hoffmann Silver badge
        Trollface

        Re: This could be big

        Nah, any barber can do it!

        1. seven of five Silver badge

          Re: This could be big

          Hold still while I get a 2x4...

          1. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge

            Re: This could be big

            As long as it's a surgical 2x4. No one wants a gum infection.

    2. DS999 Silver badge

      Re: This could be big

      Highly doubtful pulling the teeth would help there. It isn't like the tooth goes bad and starts affecting the rest of the body. It is the plaque you aren't cleaning from the gumline, between the teeth and so on that causes problems. There seems to be a pretty clear genetic factor, too. Some people don't brush well and never floss but never had a filling, others try to do all the right things and fight gum disease and cavities.

      It would be a boon to people who have lost teeth in accidents and have no choice today but to get implants which have their own issues. When I had braces as a kid I used to have dreams about stuff like having an accident riding my bike and knocking my front teeth out the day after I got the braces off lol

      1. biddibiddibiddibiddi Bronze badge

        Re: This could be big

        My father's side of the family is one of those with hereditary bad teeth. We all end up with all of them pulled by the time we're in our 40s, after decades of fillings, root canals, etc. I had 8 or 9 abscesses over the years (my body seems prone to that as they happen in other parts as well), plus deep cavities that occurred just within the 4 months between cleanings and exams, requiring a total of 9 root canals, 9 crowns (not all on the root canals), 70 to 100 fillings, and 14 extractions (not counting wisdom teeth) before finally having to give up and get the remainder removed and get dentures when I was 44. I didn't practice the best oral hygiene but part of that was because when I did make an effort, it didn't seem to make a difference.

        Considering it cost $24,000 for the final extractions, implants and dentures, it seems like a round of this drug and the monitoring or whatever goes with it could have been less expensive and given me a better set of teeth than dentures do.

        1. biddibiddibiddibiddi Bronze badge

          Re: This could be big

          Forgot to mention, that wasn't even for permanent dentures. It was just two implants on top and two on the bottom, so the dentures are removable. (Which turns out to be preferable to me because of the amount of food that gets stuck under them which would be harder to clean if they couldn't come out.) A non-removable set, only able to be taken out by the doctor for maintenance, with 6 on top and 6 on the bottom, would have totaled $75,000. That is on the high end, due to the area I'm in, but still.

      2. vtcodger Silver badge

        Re: This could be big

        If this works, I'd guess that it will work like regrowth in children. First, the roots of the current teeth will resorb. Then the teeth will fall out. Then new teeth will grow in. But one does wonder how long the new teeth will last if medication is still being applied to the most stubborn of the old set. It'll be annoying if one's shiny new front teeth fall out while some molars from the old set are still loosening up and haven't even started to bud a replacement.

        I'd also worry about side affects. A lot of otherwise worthy medications have serious or even devastating side affects. One hopes this treatment doesn't cause depression. Or massive weight gain. Or the growth of a long hairy tail.

        Time will tell.

        1. Bebu
          Windows

          Re: This could be big

          《One hopes this treatment doesn't cause depression. Or massive weight gain. Or the growth of a long hairy tail.》

          Turn on the TV: --> depression

          Proper teeth: --> weight gain

          A long hairy tail perhaps I could handle if I moved to Scandanavia where I might attract a Huldra. :)

          1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Re: This could be big

            I quite fancy a long, hairy, prehensile tail. Could be quite useful. I could also use it as an excuse to start wearing an opera cloak - something I've always secretly wanted to do anyway. I like the idea of walking into a room impressively with the swish of my cloak - even better if I could surreptitiously steal things with my tail while doing it.

            Could have all sorts of fun with it. Plus it would also be very practical. Repairing your glasses is really a three handed job. One to hold the screwdriver, one the tweezers and now you can hold the glasses with your tail. Also useful when cooking.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: This could be big

              I knew a girl like that once

              1. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge

                Re: This could be big

                She had a hairy, prehensile tail???

        2. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

          Re: This could be big

          I know the genome is heavily overloaded, but it seems unlikely this gene regulates other things. But that's what they are testing to find out.

        3. Jedit Silver badge
          Coat

          "I'd also worry about side affects"

          There's definitely a lot to chew on here.

          (I imagine that after that one, mine is the one with my teeth in the pocket.)

          1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

            Re: "I'd also worry about side affects"

            Probably find that we start to grow really sharp canines and develop an unsuitable thirst for blood..

            1. spold Silver badge

              Re: "I'd also worry about side affects"

              Yes, I believe they are working with an institute in Transylvania.

          2. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
            Trollface

            Re: "I'd also worry about side affects"

            This story is becoming a bit long in the tooth.

        4. Elongated Muskrat Silver badge

          Re: This could be big

          ...or, tooth growth elsewhere

      3. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
        Pirate

        Re: This could be big

        It isn't like the tooth goes bad and starts affecting the rest of the body.

        You probably never had a majorly serious toothache (e.g. abscess). The tooth is the problem, but the rest of the body and the spirit want to die. Trust me on this.

    3. biddibiddibiddibiddi Bronze badge

      Re: This could be big

      I think just brushing and flossing properly would be a far cheaper and convenient option than extracting a tooth and re-growing it every time it gets a cavity, even more so than getting a filling for each cavity. This shouldn't be considered just a casual option to oral hygiene.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: This could be big

        As one of the other posters point out, there's a strong genetic component. Some folks brush and floss exactly per the recommendations, yet get cavities and other problems. Some don't follow the recommendations and are fine. I'm greatly blessed to be in the latter camp - once went 10 years between dentist appointments, the only flossings are when the dentist does it - and haven't had any cavities. Go figure. (Though I do brush twice a day.)

        1. teebie

          Re: This could be big

          "When did you last floss, AC"

          "You...you were there"

  4. Winkypop Silver badge
    Trollface

    Tooth Fairy goes bankrupt

    Kids, wanna make some dough?

  5. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge
    Alert

    I feel like I've seen this before somewhere...

    It sounds like the beginning of a horror movie

    1. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
      Angel

      Re: I feel like I've seen this before somewhere...

      It is.

  6. biddibiddibiddibiddi Bronze badge

    I will be very impressed if this is capable of giving us teeth that align well without having to get braces as soon as they come in. When they're developing as a child, it's alongside the rest of the face and jaw, so everything is guided and fit together. Having them come in separately might not work the same, whether they're able to regrow a single tooth or a full set. I would expect it to also cause wisdom teeth to regrow, which would be a problem. This doesn't seem to be a targeted growth. They just inject it into the body and wait to see if any teeth grow, so I don't understand how they can give it to humans who have any existing teeth without a whole new set growing and pushing those out, or coming out sideways underneath them. Perhaps having an existing tooth somehow inhibits the regrowth, but I wonder how something like having had a root canal would affect it.

    The animals like alligators and sharks that completely regrow teeth have an entirely different arrangement of teeth, with a completely different shape and function from human, which is far more forgiving of misalignments. When you're just stabbing the food and tearing it apart, a jagged bite isn't a big deal and even helps. When you're grinding vegetable matter and need things to squeeze relatively flat, those teeth need to grow in a pretty specific way. I suspect this may be WHY some species lost the ability to grow new teeth after birth. (There are species that have teeth that continuously grow, like rabbits, but those are not NEW teeth, and they have to constantly wear them down or it will kill them.)

    They show a ferret that grew an extra front tooth, like that's a good thing. We don't want humans just randomly growing extra teeth. And ferrets and other animals aren't concerned with the appearance of their teeth so if they aren't straight, it doesn't matter, as long as it doesn't negatively affect their ability to eat.

    1. Ken Shabby Bronze badge

      Never fuck with a ferret, well at least the ones used for catching rabbits, those are the most evil killing machines, ask any rabbit, they fuck off real quick, straight into the net. Rabbit pie anyone?

  7. tony72

    From the "what could go wrong?" department

    You know what Godzilla had? Lots of teeth. Just sayin'. Fukushima water and tooth-growing drugs, uh huh.

    1. Dan 55 Silver badge

      Re: From the "what could go wrong?" department

      It's Japan so of course they'll end up turning human testers into rampaging anime teeth monsters.

  8. Inventor of the Marmite Laser Silver badge
    Pint

    Pulling more teeth?

    What coins should I stock up on? It used to be sixpence under the pillow for a tooth that came out. What's the going rate today?

    When my kids were small the rate was actually 50p, . The money would be left by Fat Mick and Bert, our family tooth fairies.

    Fat Mick and Bert were inspired by Sir Pterrys own tooth fairy character in Hogfather. The beer is raised to SirPt. Thus far his tooth fairy inspiration has bought great amusement to three generations of my family and looks likely to continue.

    1. vtcodger Silver badge

      Re: Pulling more teeth?

      Coins are so 20th Century. Just leave your credit card. The Tooth Fairy will take care of the billing details using a cell phone app.

      Don't have cell phone service? No new teeth for you mate.

    2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Pulling more teeth?

      In my childhood it was more complicated. The tooth fairy provided 10p for a single tooth and 20p for a double.

      There were a few nice 50p windfalls when Mum was on nights and Dad had to step into the role of locum tooth fairy.

    3. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge

      Re: When my kids were small the rate was actually 50p

      Going rate for my kids was a quid a tooth. But that's inflation for you.

  9. arkhangelsk

    I hope this one becomes affordable in a few years. I have some teeth I want replacements for.

    1. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      I have some teeth I want replacements for

      They would have to take out the tooth implants first..

  10. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    I'm still waiting for a follow-up to the work I read about years ago from KCL dental school - a treatment for cavities which would stimulate enough regrowth to repair the damage.

    1. David 132 Silver badge
      Happy

      I remember that too.

      Is it just me, or are “miracle” tooth regrow/repair treatments a bit like nuclear fusion power - always 50 10 years away?

      Or perhaps, with my tinfoil hat on and my tongue firmly in cheek, it’s like the carburetor that let cars run on water, or the everlasting filament light bulb… world-changing inventions suppressed by an evil industry cabal. In this case, dentists. Does anyone here trust the B.D.A.?

      1. Korev Silver badge
        Terminator

        > Is it just me, or are “miracle” tooth regrow/repair treatments a bit like nuclear fusion power - always 50 10 years away?

        You forgot self-driving cars...

  11. NXM

    3 sets

    A schoolfriend had 3 sets of teeth - one milk and two adult sets. He had to have the spare ones removed before they completely congested his poor gob. Maybe the scientists could work out how that happened and enable it in other people.

    1. Elongated Muskrat Silver badge

      Re: 3 sets

      Third dentition, also known as supernumerary teeth, is surprisingly common, and apparently is the reason for 1-3% of dental treatments, according to Doctor Google.

  12. Tron Silver badge

    They should be based in the UK.

    Where NHS dentists have passed into myth. My mother has been on a waiting list for an NHS dentist for nearly two decades. Growing new teeth would be quicker.

    Just not like this: https://northstreet.dental/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/two-rows-of-teeth.jpg

    1. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: They should be based in the UK.

      Now there's an overbite for you.

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like