What if cavities or cracked or broken teeth could be repaired without dental fillings?
Unlike many other types of human tissue, dental enamel, the outer layer of teeth, doesn't regrow once it's damaged. Dentists have to repair cavities and damaged enamel with synthetic materials like ceramics, metals, and resins.
But scientists are studying how to grow dental stem cells in a lab to try to transform how dentists treat teeth, imagining a future in which tooth enamel or whole teeth could be replaced.
Scientists have created a 3D model with human dental stem cells they are working to use as the building blocks to restore teeth, according to results of lab experiments reported in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences.
The researchers used stem cells from the dental follicle, tissue that surrounds teeth, to make the 3D model, which can grow more dental stem cells in a lab.
"It would be a great advance in the field if stem cells could be used to repair cavities or treat other oral health issues," says senior study author Hugo Vankelecom, PhD, a stem cell researcher at the University of Leuven in Belgium.
"The tooth provides an excellent source of stem cells,” he says, and his team can make them grow and produce a lot more cells.
