Growing new teeth: Will “every dentist’s dream" come true?

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 18. July 2023

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OSAKA, Japan: By 2030, a simple medicine may help patients with anodontia to grow their missing teeth. A pioneering researcher in Japan has been studying tooth regeneration for more than two decades, working towards what he refers to as “every dentist’s dream”, and clinical trials of the medicine he co-developed are set to begin next year.

Dr Katsu Takahashi and his team in 2021 proved the biological effectiveness of a novel gene therapy for tooth regeneration in mice. Focusing their attention on USAG-1, a protein synthesised by a gene that hinders tooth development in mice, the researchers developed a means of inhibiting the production of the protein that led to new tooth growth. The results gained due international attention when they were published in July 2021 in Scientific Reports and clinical trials that aim to replicate the results in humans are set to begin in July 2024. If the drug is found to be effective and safe for human use, the researchers are aiming to have it developed for treatment of anodontia in children aged two 2 to 6 years.

Dr Takahashi, a dentist who completed graduate studies in molecular biology, has been researching tooth regrowth at Kyoto University since 2005. Now head of the department of dentistry and oral surgery at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, Dr Takahashi hopes that the drug will be available for general use by 2030.

“The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist’s dream,” Dr Takahashi told national daily newspaper The Mainichi. “I’ve been working on this since I was a graduate student. I was confident I’d be able to make it happen,” he added.

Anodontia can negatively impact the development of children and lead to severe oral health problems. The congenital condition affects around 1% of the population and some 10% of anodontia cases are thought to be caused by genetic factors. If the medicine is proved to be effective, it may have wider applications in dentistry.