In a groundbreaking development that could transform dental care, scientists at Kingās College London have successfully grown human teeth in a laboratory setting for the first time. Scientists say this could pave the way for patients to regrow lost teeth in the future and can also pose an alternative to fillings or dental implants.
The King’s team, in collaboration with Imperial College London, has managed to develop a special type of material that enables cells to communicate with each other and begin forming a tooth in the lab.
Unlike implants and fillings, which are fixed and cannot adapt over time, the study outlines how a lab-grown tooth made from a patientās cells could integrate into the jaw and repair itself like a natural tooth.
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Dr Ana Angelova-Volponi, director of regenerative dentistry at Kingās College London, said the research can ārevolutionise dental careā as humans cannot regenerate their teeth.
“Lab-grown teeth would naturally regenerate, integrating into the jaw as real teeth. They would be stronger, longer lasting, and free from rejection risks, offering a more durable and biologically compatible solution than fillings or implants,” reserachers said.
The team is now working on ideas to move the lab-grown teeth into a patient’s mouth. “We could transplant the young tooth cells at the location of the missing tooth and let them grow inside the mouth.Alternatively, we could create the whole tooth in the lab before placing it in the patientās mouth. For both options, we need to start the very early tooth development process in the lab,” Xuechen Zhang, researcher at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences said.
