Japan pharma startup to begin human trials of tooth regrowth drug in 2024

Re:Japan pharma startup to begin human trials of tooth regro... by dragonelite on Monday September 25, 2023 @03:01AM (#37640443)

Is this only for missing teeths, or can they also use this for grown ups cavity stuff? Last time i got a cavity drilled out and filled was some like a decade ago it was annoying as fuck.

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Re:Japan pharma startup to begin human trials of tooth regro... by Blikkentrekker on Monday September 25, 2023 @03:26AM (#37640561)

The article says that the initial plan is children who were born with missing teeth, and then for lost teeth in adults.

The way it's explained suggests these “tooth buds” they use disappear in adulthood however, so I'm not sure how that works.

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Re:Japan pharma startup to begin human trials of tooth regro... by XorNot on Monday September 25, 2023 @03:37AM (#37640632)

I imagine there's some work going on (or intended work) looking at how to manufacture them from stem cells.

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Re:Japan pharma startup to begin human trials of tooth regro... by cloudier on Monday September 25, 2023 @10:20AM (#37644207)

Humans have 3 sets of tooth buds. Most people never use the third set. For adults this treatment would aim to regrow the third set.

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Re:Japan pharma startup to begin human trials of tooth regro... by Blikkentrekker on Monday September 25, 2023 @11:15PM (#37653877)

The article implies the third set disappears in adulthood.

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Re:Japan pharma startup to begin human trials of tooth regro... by cloudier on Wednesday September 27, 2023 @11:00AM (#37675611)

Thanks for pointing this out — I actually assumed the linked article was a different one[1] which implied that the third set could replace dentures:

> When treatment of teeth is no longer possible due to severe cavities or erosion of the dental sockets, known as pyorrhea, people lose them and need to rely on dental appliances such as dentures. The ability to grow third-generation teeth could change that. "In any case, we're hoping to see a time when tooth-regrowth medicine is a third choice alongside dentures and implants," Takahashi said.

[1]: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230609/p2a/00m/0sc/02...

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