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Dentist here. You're probably wondering if this is a disruptive threat to the established business of dentistry -- I have no idea. However, I can say that thr

Dentist here. You're probably wondering if this is a disruptive threat to the established business of dentistry -- I have no idea. However, I can say that throughout the field I consistently run into dentists who will advocate for the health of the patient over the profit of the business. Consider the fluoridation of water throughout the world, one of the single greatest public health advances, when you take into account the benefits versus the cost of fluoridation. But the science of it: I'm excited by the tooth growing possibilities, but it's important to understand that getting these teeth properly integrated into the body is quite a challenge. I'll give you an example: the periodontal ligament is like a very precise shock absorber attaching bone to tooth, and gives some flex to the tooth. (It's also the thing that makes orthodontics (moving teeth) work in the first place.) Sometimes, (usually in younger folks) if you knock a whole front tooth out, you can immediately replace it and the PDL will regenerate. Sometimes, however, the PDL fails to regenerate, and you end up with a situation where the tooth is ankylosed -- the ligamentous connection is gone, and the tooth is essentially fused to bone. This is one of the difficulties that will need to be overcome when regenerating teeth -- if that PDL fails to develop, you're stuck with a newly regrown tooth fused to bone. Thus, the tooth is more susceptible to breaking and _really_ difficult to extract from the mouth if it becomes infected.

pseudonym 14y ago
I would be very surprised if dentists saw this as a disruptive threat-- since these are real teeth, these are still subject to needing to be cleaned on a regular basis, unlike just dropping your dentures into a cup before you go to bed at night. If people got these, you've essentially guaranteed that people above a certain age would continue going to the dentist until the day they died.
melling 14y ago
It'll probably create more business. Many people are careless with their teeth and they lose them. Getting a second chance will probably encourage them to pay a yearly visit to the dentist.
- Zhenya 14y ago
  Right. It's not like they are going to just grow themselves magically. However, endodontists may have yet another thing to fear. The first thing being implants
zatara 14y ago
Well, this is just one constrain that will not make treatment impossible. After all, osteointegrated titanium dental implants do not have a PDL as well...
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
ringm 14y ago
I found this rather amusing comment on a Russian dental forum a while ago. Sorry for possible mistranslation, I am neither a dentist nor a native English speaker. ---- I spent some time contemplating the future where this tech would be widely available. What this New Dentistry would be like? Pretty much the same thing we have with implants today. We will have all the same problems with crooked teeth. With lack of bone and gum tissue. Plus aesthetics, and decay of new teeth. Periodontal issues, calculus, etc, etc... Growing new teeth won't be a real breakthrough. Imagine a patient missing some teeth. He sees a... what's his name... an toothgrowologist for a consult. "Hey Doc, what would you recommend?" "We need to grow you 9 new upper teeth and 8 new lower teeth, correct malocclusion with braces, possibly add some veneers for aesthetics... This will add up to $30-$50K." "$30K???" "Might be up to $50K." "Don't you have cheaper options?" "Well, you could get implants..." "Nuh-uh, I don't want implants, I want real teeth. Maybe you could grow me just a few, and put bridges on top?" "Uh... uh.... Whatever you like..." Here are some quotes from a future internet forum on dentistry: "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and apparently I didn't have enough bone and gum tissue, now the root is bare and I've got cervical decay... What do I do now?" "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and it turned out a premolar instead of an incisor. He told me this happens sometimes, and now I have to get it devitalized, and cover it with a crown..." "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and it points toward my cheek. Now I have to get braces. Can I make the toothgrowologist pay for the braces?" "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, it's just erupted and it is already decayed". "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and it is loose and bleeding". "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and I've got foreign body sensation in my jaw. I think he's grown me someone else's tooth."
tomkin 14y ago
Off topic, but I just remembered that when I was a kid there was some snippet on the news about a new treatment which would allow the gums to be softened (??) which would give the doctor/ortho time to reform the teeth. This was supposed to be the quick and fast answer to braces. I never heard of it again and when I've searched for it I've come up empty. Have you heard of this?
- verisimilitude 14y ago
  You may be thinking of Wilckodontics. From what I could tell, they don't really go into depth on their website, but what they do is place braces and then irritate the bone (essentially drill holes ("scar" the bone) in strategic spots). During the healing from this insult, osteoclastic activity is increased... accelerating the remodeling of bone. As the bone remodels, it can respond more quickly to PDL forces than it normally would. I think I first heard about this in the context of military folks who needed orthodontics, but needed results quickly.
SpiderX 14y ago
Well, the way I see it, it would create as many jobs as it destroys. Why would you fill in a tooth when you could just replace it by a grown one? You'd need to have your tooth pulled, then get your skin scraped for the cells to start the tooth bud. You'll have to have another appointment to implant the tooth bud, and followup visits to check on the progress of the growth.
infinite8s 14y ago
I doubt it. It would probably just one more treatment option in the arsenal of the modern dentist (probably replacing some of the less natural options like implants).
berntb 14y ago
Hrm, I am mostly bald and use a beard trimmer for the remaining lint. If that baldness was fixed, it wouldn't be a bad thing for people cutting hair! (I don't really care about being "topless" -- teeth otoh are important.)

pseudonym 14y ago

I would be very surprised if dentists saw this as a disruptive threat-- since these are real teeth, these are still subject to needing to be cleaned on a regular basis, unlike just dropping your dentures into a cup before you go to bed at night. If people got these, you've essentially guaranteed that people above a certain age would continue going to the dentist until the day they died.

melling 14y ago

It'll probably create more business. Many people are careless with their teeth and they lose them. Getting a second chance will probably encourage them to pay a yearly visit to the dentist.

Zhenya 14y ago
Right. It's not like they are going to just grow themselves magically. However, endodontists may have yet another thing to fear. The first thing being implants

zatara 14y ago

Well, this is just one constrain that will not make treatment impossible. After all, osteointegrated titanium dental implants do not have a PDL as well...

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

ringm 14y ago

I found this rather amusing comment on a Russian dental forum a while ago. Sorry for possible mistranslation, I am neither a dentist nor a native English speaker. ---- I spent some time contemplating the future where this tech would be widely available. What this New Dentistry would be like? Pretty much the same thing we have with implants today. We will have all the same problems with crooked teeth. With lack of bone and gum tissue. Plus aesthetics, and decay of new teeth. Periodontal issues, calculus, etc, etc... Growing new teeth won't be a real breakthrough. Imagine a patient missing some teeth. He sees a... what's his name... an toothgrowologist for a consult. "Hey Doc, what would you recommend?" "We need to grow you 9 new upper teeth and 8 new lower teeth, correct malocclusion with braces, possibly add some veneers for aesthetics... This will add up to $30-$50K." "$30K???" "Might be up to $50K." "Don't you have cheaper options?" "Well, you could get implants..." "Nuh-uh, I don't want implants, I want real teeth. Maybe you could grow me just a few, and put bridges on top?" "Uh... uh.... Whatever you like..." Here are some quotes from a future internet forum on dentistry: "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and apparently I didn't have enough bone and gum tissue, now the root is bare and I've got cervical decay... What do I do now?" "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and it turned out a premolar instead of an incisor. He told me this happens sometimes, and now I have to get it devitalized, and cover it with a crown..." "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and it points toward my cheek. Now I have to get braces. Can I make the toothgrowologist pay for the braces?" "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, it's just erupted and it is already decayed". "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and it is loose and bleeding". "My toothgrowologist has grown me a tooth, and I've got foreign body sensation in my jaw. I think he's grown me someone else's tooth."

tomkin 14y ago

Off topic, but I just remembered that when I was a kid there was some snippet on the news about a new treatment which would allow the gums to be softened (??) which would give the doctor/ortho time to reform the teeth. This was supposed to be the quick and fast answer to braces. I never heard of it again and when I've searched for it I've come up empty. Have you heard of this?

verisimilitude 14y ago
You may be thinking of Wilckodontics. From what I could tell, they don't really go into depth on their website, but what they do is place braces and then irritate the bone (essentially drill holes ("scar" the bone) in strategic spots). During the healing from this insult, osteoclastic activity is increased... accelerating the remodeling of bone. As the bone remodels, it can respond more quickly to PDL forces than it normally would. I think I first heard about this in the context of military folks who needed orthodontics, but needed results quickly.

SpiderX 14y ago

Well, the way I see it, it would create as many jobs as it destroys. Why would you fill in a tooth when you could just replace it by a grown one? You'd need to have your tooth pulled, then get your skin scraped for the cells to start the tooth bud. You'll have to have another appointment to implant the tooth bud, and followup visits to check on the progress of the growth.

infinite8s 14y ago

I doubt it. It would probably just one more treatment option in the arsenal of the modern dentist (probably replacing some of the less natural options like implants).

berntb 14y ago

Hrm, I am mostly bald and use a beard trimmer for the remaining lint. If that baldness was fixed, it wouldn't be a bad thing for people cutting hair! (I don't really care about being "topless" -- teeth otoh are important.)