Scientists Develop New Drug That Can Help Regenerate Teeth

• Scientists from the universities of Kyoto and Fukui are currently working on a genetic treatment that can help regrow teeth.
• The said treatment has worked on mice and ferrets and will soon be tested on dogs and pigs.
• This new drug could revolutionize tooth loss treatments in the years to come.

Japanese scientists have just developed a drug that can potentially help regrow lost teeth. Trials conducted with mice and ferrets have been a success and now they’re looking forward to proceeding to next testing stages.

Apparently, the scientists tell us that suppression of the USAG-1 gene with antibody treatment can regenerate lost teeth. The groundbreaking study has been published in Science Advances back in February 2021 and only started gaining attention on social media last month.

Imagine the possibilities…

“We knew that suppressing USAG-1 benefits tooth growth,” said study author Katsu Takahashi of the Kyoto University Gradyare School of Medicine. “What we did not know was whether it would be enough… 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.”

So… no need for dentures in the future?

The treatment can prove to be useful for those who want a more permanent solution to dental problems than artificial replacements such as dentures and implants.

“Conventional tissue engineering is not suitable for tooth regeneration,” added study co-author Manabu Sugai from the University of Fukui. ”Our study shows that cell-free molecular therapy is effective for a wide range of congenital tooth agenesis.”

Definitely a “promising approach” to teeth regreneration

The study also reads:

“Our results demonstrate that USAG-1 controls the number of teeth by inhibiting development of potential tooth germs in wild-type or mutant mice missing teeth. Anti–USAG-1 antibody administration is, therefore, a promising approach for tooth regeneration therapy.”