Enthusiasm For Regenerating Teeth
From the Seattle Times: "the real news about the future of dentures is that there isn't much of one. ... It turns out wisdom teeth are prolific sources of adult stem cells needed to grow new teeth for you. From scratch. In your adult life, as you need them. In the near future. ... Regenerating a whole tooth is no less complicated than rebuilding a whole heart ... Not only do you have to create smart tissue (nerves), strong tissue (ligaments) and soft tissue (pulp), you've got to build enamel - by far the hardest structural element in the body. And you have to have openings for blood vessels and nerves. And you have to make the whole thing stick together. And you have to anchor it in bone. And then you have to make the entire arrangement last a lifetime in the juicy stew of bacteria that is your mouth. It's a nuisance, but researchers are closing in on it. They think the tooth probably will be the first complex organ to be completely regenerated from stem cells. In part, this is because teeth are easily accessible. ... Nobody is predicting when the first whole tooth will be grown in a human, although five to 10 years is a common guess."
Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008593860_teeth06.html