Have you or someone you know ever lost a tooth and went through tooth implantation? There are a lot of problems associated with the process of tooth implantation. There are fitting problems, extensive visits to the dentist and sometimes it is almost a year’s process before it could properly heal. Experiencing so much pain and problems a person thinks of something impossible which can grow the tooth naturally with out any kind of pain. Well it is no more impossible because the Columbian University Medical Center has announced a new stem cell technology which can re-grow a lost tooth naturally.
This latest technology is being created by Dr. Jeremy Mao of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the Medical Center. This new technology homes stem cells into a 3-dimentional scaffold in the space left by the former tooth to grow the new tooth. Dr Mao has previously tested this technology on the animal models by homing their body’s stem cells to a micro-channeled scaffold in the tooth socket. The scaffold which is made up of a natural material is integrated into the surrounding tissues to keep the shape of the tooth until periodontal ligaments and new alveolar bone has grown. This helps the tooth to grow naturally with out any pain.
The basic concept behind this technology was to make the tooth implantation process a less painful and a more natural process. Apart from this the main consideration was put on keeping the whole process cost-effective. It does not only save the tooth implantation cost but it saves a lot of money as the patient does not have to visit the dentist again and again. Dr Mao says that “Cell-homing-based tooth regeneration may provide a tangible pathway toward clinical translation.” He said it true. Such an innovation is worth appreciation.
