The next generation of tooth care - 28th April 2025

In an important medical development, researchers have managed to grow human teeth in a laboratory.

The team of scientists, from Kings College and Imperial College London, believe this could change dental treatment. Lab-grown teeth could be made from a patient's cells. These teeth would repair themselves like natural teeth do.

Xuechen Zhang, from Kings College, prefers this to fillings or implants. "They would be stronger, longer lasting and free from rejection risks", he said.

Many creatures, such as sharks, naturally regrow teeth. However, humans don't, which motivated Dr Ana Angelova-Volponi to understand this ability in animals.

"The idea of replacing the tooth in a biological way by regrowing it, drew me to London and to Kings."

After a decade of research, success came when the team added a new material to the process. This material allowed cells to communicate and give neighbouring cells information. In this case, to take the form of tooth cells.

Now, the team's focusing on how to insert them into patients' mouths. One approach would be to implant young tooth cells to grow at the site of the missing tooth. Alternatively, the whole tooth could be grown in the laboratory and then implanted.

The researchers are confident that this could lead to a revolution in dental treatments. Not only that, their study's part of a trend in medical research. Many studies are exploring the use of stem cells to regrow other body parts.