Growing your own replacement teeth? Not science fiction!

Dental medicine is on the brink of profound change due, in large measure, to unprecedented advances in science and technology. Advances in stem cell biology will improve our understanding of degenerative diseases and assist in developing therapies for replacing damaged or diseased parts/tissues.

During the 83rd General Session of the International Association for Dental Research, convening today at the Baltimore Convention Center, several research groups are reporting on dramatic progress in the use of various techniques–including genetic mutations, post-natal dental stem cells, and tooth tissue engineering–to facilitate replacement tooth therapy development in humans.

Researchers from the Forsyth Institute (Boston, MA) and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio will describe successful experiments in bioengineering mineralized tissues, including periodontal tissues and replacement tooth phenotypes. This research is supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, one of the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD).