A study published by Scientific Reports shows that our stem cells can be energised to cure rotten, decaying teeth.
Scientifc Reports has released a study that shows how tooth decay can be cured by stem cells, without depending on cement or ceramic filling treatments.
Claiming to render dental cement obsolete in the near future, the study says that the stem cells in our teeth can be motivated to fill in chips, cracks or cavities, at a much faster rate with a drug that already has safety testing behind it.
"We're mobilising stem cells in the body and it works. If it works for teeth, chances are it could work for other organs," revealed Paul Sharpe, a researcher at King's College London and one of the authors of the paper.
When teeth lose dentin, the stem cells tucked inside mount a recovery effort and manufacture new dentin. As part of the research, Sharpe and his team discovered that a group of molecules called glycogen synthase kinase inhibitors (or GSK-3 inhibitors) boost the stem cells' ability to stimulate production of dentin beyond what normally occurs.
The new study for now has been conducted on mice molars to expose the tooth's pulp, where the stem cells live. The researchers then inserted collagen sponges that had been soaked in one of three types of GSK-3 inhibitors and covered the tooth. After six weeks, they removed the teeth and found that the sponges had dissolved and the lost dentin had mostly been regenerated.
What has to be determined now is whether this approach can generate enough dentin to fill larger holes in larger teeth before testing the method on humans.
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