Recently, the Journal of Dental Research published a study according to which a new tissue regeneration technique may help in regrowing pearly white teeth.
Dr Jeremy Mao, the Edward V. Zegarellu Professor of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, explains that a three-dimensional scaffold with growth factor has the potential to regenerate and regrow anatomically correct teeth within just nine weeks after the implantation.
The procedure was developed in the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the university.
In the process, the body’s own stem cells go toward the scaffold, which consists of completely natural materials. Once the scaffold is colonized with stem cells, the tooth starts growing in the socket, and later merges with the surrounding tissue.
In this way teeth do not grow in a Petri dish, and anatomically correct teeth regenerate by using the body’s own material. This dental treatment offers a faster recovery time and, unlike implantation, a completely natural regrowth process.
The patent applications are already filed, and the Columbia University seeks associates that will help in the commercialization of this technology. Dr Mao seeks for the best approach when it comes to applying his technique in cost-effective clinical therapies.
(Columbia University Medical Center)
