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Ian Sample,
science correspondent
Monday May 3, 2004
The Guardian
The British institution
of dentures sitting in a glass of water beside the
bed could be rendered obsolete by scientists who
are confident that people will soon be able to replace
lost teeth by growing new ones.
Instead of false
teeth, a small ball of cells capable of growing
into a new tooth will be implanted where the missing
one used to be.
The procedure needs
only a local anesthetic and the new tooth should
be fully formed within a few months of the cells
being implanted.
Paul Sharpe, a
specialist in the field of regenerative dentistry
at the Dental Institute of King's College, London,
says the new procedure has distinct advantages over
false teeth that require a metal post to be driven
into the jaw before being capped with a porcelain
or plastic tooth.
"The surgery today
can be extensive and you need to have good solid
bone in the jaw and that is a major problem for
some people," Professor Sharpe said.
The method could
be used on far more patients because the ball of
cells that grows into a tooth also produces bone
that anchors to the jaw.
The choice of growing
a new tooth is likely to appeal to patients. "Anyone
who has lost teeth will tell you that, given the
chance, they would rather have their own teeth than
false ones," said Prof Sharpe. The average Briton
over 50 has lost 12 teeth from a set of 32.
The procedure is
fairly simple. Doctors take stem cells from the
patient. These are unique in their ability to form
any of the tissues that make up the body. By carefully
nurturing the stem cells in a laboratory, scientists
can nudge the cells down a path that will make them
grow into a tooth. After a couple of weeks, the
ball of cells, known as a bud, is ready to be implanted.
Tests reveal what type of tooth - for example, a
molar or an incisor - the bud will form.
Using a local anesthetic,
the tooth bud is inserted through a small incision
into the gum. Within months, the cells will have
matured into a fully-formed tooth, fused to the
jawbone. As the tooth grows, it releases chemicals
that encourage nerves and blood vessels to link
up with it.
Tests have shown
the technique to work in mice, where new teeth took
weeks to grow. "There's no reason why it shouldn't
work in humans, the principles are the same," said
Prof Sharpe.
His team has set
up a company, Odontis, to exploit the technique,
and has won £400,000 from the National Endowment
for Science, Technology and the Arts and the Wellcome
Trust.
Ian Sample, science
correspondent
Monday May 3, 2004
The Guardian
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