Permanent Tooth Replacement In The Future: Can You Grow A Missing Tooth?

Every single prosthesis that dentists fabricate or the material engineers work on in the labs is aimed at replicating the form and function of the natural tooth. The ultimate aim of permanent tooth replacement is to be able to give the patient something that will look, feel, and work like a tooth and the closer dentists are able to get to that objective, the better satisfied patients are going to be.

Currently, the best possible option for a patient seems to be a dental implant with a well-fabricated crown on top. But, what about the future? Will scientists be able to recreate the process of tooth formation in a lab? Can you grow a missing tooth in the lab to meet the individual needs of a patient?

Let us look at what has been achieved right now and what scientists are working on.

Is It Possible To Grow Natural Teeth In A Lab?

A look at some of the animals around us will show that there are plenty of species that grow teeth throughout their lives. Sharks and rodents are two such species.

There are numerous experiments where an artificial tooth has been grown inside animals with quite a bit of success. Cell populations that initiate the formation of the tooth have been mixed together in ideal lab conditions and the resultant tooth bud is implanted in an animal jaw, allowing the tooth to form.

The same thing could be done in humans, theoretically speaking.

Growing New Natural Teeth In Humans

Two basic approaches are being taken with growing teeth in humans. The first approach is the one I described above. Scientists try and find stem cells from the body and try to grow them into a tooth bud in extremely carefully curated conditions in the lab before implanting it into the jaw [1].

This is the approach that has the most potential and that has worked to some degree in animal models [2]. There are gaps in the knowledge that exists right now but hopefully, they will continue to be filled and the process could be streamlined further [3].

The other approach is to create a framework or scaffold of the tooth to be replaced, filling it with stem cells and then implanting it into the jaw [4]. The idea here is that the body will recognize the tooth bud and provide all of the signaling molecules at the right time to make it possible to form a new tooth  [5].

Both of these approaches have some major limitations right now.

While scientists know the exact sequence of events that take place in tooth formation and the kind of cells involved, they do not know the sequence in which these molecules become activated or the exact concentration of certain nutrients required during the process [6].

Each step could have a cascading effect on the next one and thus prevent the tooth from forming at all. The second approach of hoping that the body does all this work is even more difficult because an adult jaw will not have the same growth markers as a developing one and will have to be stimulated to try and grow a jaw [7].

There is also the question of the quality of stem cells being harvested. It may just be possible that the stem cells being obtained, most commonly from the wisdom teeth, do not have the innate potential to be able to develop into a fully grown mature tooth at all [8].

Will Growing Missing Teeth In Labs Ever Be Possible?

"Can you grow a missing tooth?" Right now, the answer is a solid "no". Will such a thing ever be possible? There are scientists who think that we may never be able to figure out the exact sequence of events [9] and thus never succeed while there are others who think we do not need all of the answers to be able to achieve this goal. They think that once we have sufficient information to kickstart the process, nature will take over and do the rest [10].

There is one important thing that needs to be considered, though, from a clinical perspective. The natural time taken to grow a tooth is around five years. Even if the whole process of growing teeth as an option for permanent tooth replacement could be carried out, will patients be actually willing to wait for such a long time?

Or will scientists then have to work on turbocharging an already difficult process?!

All things considered, we are still far, far, away from a time where we can regrow missing teeth in the jaws.