Humans May Be Able to Grow New Teeth Within Just 4 Years

(popularmechanics.com)

76 points | by rmason 4 hours ago ago

37 comments

  • throw4847285 an hour ago ago

    Popular Mechanics is like Popular Science right? Extremely bullish on new technologies to the degree of taking one study and turning it into a breathless article about how we're 1 year away from flying cars?

    Sorry for the cynicism, but I grew up subscribing to Popular Science and I gained a very jaundiced view of this kind of science/technology popularizing

  • Fraterkes 3 hours ago ago

    Confused a bit by the article: it mentions human trials began in september 2024, but also that the trials that might prove it working are yet to start?

    • magicalhippo 3 hours ago ago

      I think it's just poorly written. If you go to the source[1] the trial period was planned from September 2024 to August 2025, and the submission says people are "undergoing" a trial. Perhaps it got delayed, or, more likely IMHO, the trial period is over and they're studying the data so haven't made reached a conclusion yet.

      [1]: https://www.kitano-hp.or.jp/info/20240503

    • MajesticHobo2 an hour ago ago

      It’s a phase 1 clinical trial designed only to assess safety and determine the appropriate dosage. Future trials will focus on efficacy.

  • bumblehean 3 hours ago ago

    Aren't the shape/size/placement/etc. of human teeth fairly unique across different individuals? At least unique enough to use dental records to identify bodies.

    I don't see if mentioned in TFA, but if new human teeth can be grown is it expected that the new ones will just grow in "correctly" to fit a person's mouth?

    • throwup238 2 hours ago ago

      > At least unique enough to use dental records to identify bodies.

      Yes but in comparative dental analysis they use ante-mortem dental records to compare with post-mortem remains. It's not like DNA where you can record it once and then use that to match samples decades later in a database. In order to have a high confidence in a match, recent x-rays and records of dental work like fillings, crowns, etc. work best.

      And no it is not expected. It's one of the primary challenges with bringing these kinds of drugs to market, as hyperdontia is already relatively common among humans (I had an incisor growing at the roof of my mouth an inch behind my row of teeth). Most successful applications of these tooth regrowth drugs tend to place them near the root of missing teeth hoping that the cellular growth signaling mechanisms are still working.

    • clickety_clack 3 hours ago ago

      Teeth wear quite a bit too, I wonder will new ones have to be pared down to fit.

  • RomanPushkin an hour ago ago

    Don't need teeth yet (lol), but curious if anyone is aware of a similar/new ways to restore the enamel?

  • TylerE 2 hours ago ago

    This is like fusion energy. It's been 4 years away since I've been a child.

    • amelius 2 hours ago ago

      I personally regrew my teeth since I was a child. Granted, once.

      • gambiting an hour ago ago

        Fun fact - all of your adult teeth were already there from the start, hiding under(inside?) the gums. We don't "grow" new teeth when the baby teeth fall out - the adult teeth were always there under them.

        • dekhn 40 minutes ago ago

          Did they get bigger as you were "Growing up"? Then we grow teeth, you're just being pedantic about whether they're brand new or not.

          • Dylan16807 5 minutes ago ago

            It's not pedantic in this context unless you already have a way to set up fresh seed teeth.

  • piskov 2 hours ago ago

    Let’s hope teeth won’t grow in places they shouldn’t.

    • wellthisisgreat 2 hours ago ago

      a haircut made of teeth though, hmm

    • krater23 an hour ago ago

      We all shoult fear the vagina dentata.

  • msuniverse2026 2 hours ago ago

    Scientists regrowing everything except hair. Fuck my life.

    • cebert an hour ago ago

      I am hoping for advancements in cartilage growth. I underwent microfracture surgery in my knee and will eventually need a replacement unless we make progress in this field. I would prefer to avoid knee replacement if possible because I enjoy being active. I am hopeful we’re getting close.

      • esseph an hour ago ago

        Anecdotal, but I was going in for carpal tunnel work and ran into an older gentleman, probably early 70s, that had just gone through a knee replacement a week earlier. He was walking around on it and said he wasn't really in any pain.

        I was amazed.

        YMMV.

        • cebert 15 minutes ago ago

          I have heard great things about knee replacements. Unfortunately, I’m relatively young (late 30s). If I were to get a replacement now, I’d likely need another one when I’m older. Additionally, I imagine getting an artificial knee replacement would make you no longer a candidate for lab grown replacements. There is an option already where they can grow your cartilage in a lab, but it’s quite expensive and my insurance will not cover it.

    • xenospn 2 hours ago ago

      And limbs.

      • piskov 2 hours ago ago

        I would say every tissue: no bones, no organs, eyes, ears, nerves, skin.

        Like what can they grow?

        • kylecazar 30 minutes ago ago

          Well, I'm personally hoping stem cells pull through for corneal tissue regrowth. I've got significant scarring in one eye. I'd rather not get a donor (cadaver) cornea sewn on if it's avoidable but we'll see.

          I think they're making progress.

        • janice1999 an hour ago ago

          The liver is an exception here - you can grow back a lot of it.

    • zaken 2 hours ago ago

      finasteride + minoxidil

      • janice1999 an hour ago ago

        Just keep your mental health in mind - there's growing concern that the link between finasteride and depression has been underestimated [0].

        [0] https://www.psychiatrist.com/jcp/analytical-review-depressio...

      • piskov 2 hours ago ago

        Once the follicle is closed/gone, it’s gone.

        Minoxidil won’t help grow hair on a patch of bold skin. After that only hair transplantation

        • socalgal2 2 hours ago ago

          I'm sure you're correct. That said, I saw a friend who went bald at 28 get all of his hair back from Minoxidil + finasteride. Maybe his folicles weren't closed/gone but he was bald and a year later, was not.

          Apparently there's also now-a-days, Micro-needling, Stem Cell Therapy, Platelet-Rich Plasma, and others. No idea how effective they actually are

          • hsuduebc2 2 hours ago ago

            Well he even had alopecia or he got hair transplant. There is sadly no other option.

      • simmerup 2 hours ago ago

        If you don't have sides that is

  • m3kw9 2 hours ago ago

    Growth rate and how you don’t mess it up before it matures are problems

  • zingababba 3 hours ago ago

    I've been taking vitamin k2 mk4 at 45mg a day for over a year now. My teeth feel gr8. Now I need to get some of this stuff to have super human chompers.

    • giardini 38 minutes ago ago

      This guy's been downvoted badly but he's right - vitamin k2 make your teeth into "superteeth".

      I started K2 about 10 years ago. Next dental checkup (about a year too late) the dental tech said my teeth appeared recently-cleaned. This has continued since then. No cavities, little cleaning required other than regular brushing, flossing and taking k2.

    • terribleperson 32 minutes ago ago

      Why mk4 over mk7?

    • epicureanideal 3 hours ago ago

      What changes in your subjective sensation of your teeth with K2?