Scientists have learned to grow human teeth, creating an innovative alternative to traditional dentures.

The loss of a tooth for an adult has always meant a one-way ticket to the dentist's office for prosthetics. For centuries, people have relied on dental prosthetics, bridges, and, more recently, titanium implants to fill the gaps left by missing teeth. However, nature has never provided a way for lost adult teeth to regenerate on their own. This limitation may soon change as scientists begin to explore a groundbreaking approach: growing new teeth using bioengineered tissues, reports Gizmodo.

A team of researchers from the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine has successfully implanted lab-grown dental tissue into the lower jaw of a pig, showing the first signs of tooth development. The study, published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, details how a combination of human and pig dental cells was used to create tooth-like structures.

Led by Drs. Weibo Zhang and Pamela Yelick, the researchers hope this work will one day serve as an alternative to synthetic implants. While traditional dental implants are widely used, they have a limited lifespan of about 15 years and can lead to complications such as jawbone resorption and peri-implantitis — an inflammatory condition that weakens the surrounding bone.

A living bioengineered tooth could avoid these issues by naturally integrating into the body. To achieve this, the research team extracted enamel cells from pig teeth and pulp cells from human teeth, as well as other cell types, and seeded them onto a biodegradable tooth-shaped scaffold. This scaffold, partially made from pig tooth material, was then implanted into the jaws of adult Yucatán mini pigs — a breed chosen for its jaw structure's similarity to that of humans.

Within two to four months, these bioengineered structures began to form the essential components of a tooth, including dentin and cementum — crucial layers of natural teeth. Although this process shows promise, the authors noted that it is still in its early stages. The newly formed tissues have not yet developed into fully functional teeth, and further research is needed to refine the technique.

However, Dr. Yelick remains optimistic that fully functional biological substitutes for dental prosthetics could one day become a reality. The ability to regenerate teeth could revolutionize dentistry by offering patients a lifelong natural alternative to artificial products.

This research joins a growing body of work in regenerative medicine aimed at replacing lost tissues and organs with lab-grown alternatives. Scientists have already made progress in areas such as bioengineered skin, cartilage, and have even succeeded in growing whole organs. In dentistry, the potential impact is enormous — according to researchers, the average person loses 12 teeth, including wisdom teeth, by the age of 50. If biological tooth regeneration becomes a viable treatment method, it could significantly reduce the need for prosthetics and implants in the future.

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