Recent Research Discovery

As people age, it’s not uncommon to lose teeth whether that’s because of natural processes, damage or injury. However, for most people this is a worst case scenario. To be quite frank, nothing ruins the appearance of your smile like a big gap in it. But help may be on the horizon with new research offering the possibility of one day re-growing lost teeth.

What Happens if You Lose a Tooth?

If you lose a tooth, your dentist will probably try to replace it. Sometimes, if the tooth is still fresh and undamaged, it can be placed back into the gum and will re-attach itself. However, if the tooth can’t be replaced then it’s important that you don’t just leave the gap in your mouth. This can result in bone loss and cause other teeth to cave in towards the gap. That’s why your dentist offers dental implants, which allow a fake tooth to be fitted in place of the old.

But one day, dental implants may become obsolete.

An Alzheimer’s Drug Encourages Tooth Growth

Researchers have recently found that a drug used to treat Alzheimer’s disease may have the secondary effect of encouraging teeth to regenerate. The drug, called Tideglusib, stimulates stem cells in the tooth pulp. This promotes the growth of the tissue inside your teeth, called dentin. At the moment, there seems to be no way to re-grow the hard outer shell or enamel, but dentin naturally regenerates and this drug speeds up the process. In fact, the growth was so fast that it filled in gaps left by cavities or injuries. This means that this medication could one day be used to regrow the dentin that’s lost during tooth decay, keeping the tooth alive.

Further Research on Regrowing Teeth

But this isn’t the only study on regrowing teeth. During a recent study in America, scientists managed to grow tooth buds which they claimed could grow and look like natural teeth. As this research advances, it may allow your dentist to regenerate and replace lost teeth using your own cells. And during a second study, stem cells were implanted into decayed teeth, which then showed at least dental pulp regeneration. This suggests that this procedure may be able to save damaged teeth in the case of injuries.

These studies show that, as technology advances, so do the dental options and treatments. That’s why it’s so important that you report any problems you have to your dentist, because they may have access to a treatment that you’ve never even heard of that could completely eliminate your problem!