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In theory, this latest advancement in medical technology may leave you feeling a bit naar if you think about the details for too long, but in practice, dental frontiers are being pushed where they’ve never gone before.

And by ‘frontiers’, we mean that “tooth regrowth medicine” is now a thing. Step aside “Skele-Gro” from Harry Potter!

The whole thing seems a little too magical to be true, but Japanese scientists based at Kyoto University Hospital have proven over the last decade that the possibility of tooth regrowth is realistically within reach.

The university team is expected to start the world’s first-ever human trials for medical technology of this nature this year, hopefully by September 2024.

In collaboration with tech start-up, Toregem Biopharma, scientists are hoping to draw in patients who suffer from congenital anodontia for detailed medical tests.

If you’ve also just heard of congenital anodontia, we’ll fill you in. Basically, the lot of us born with beautiful, functioning pearly whites often take this for granted – the aforementioned condition refers to those who were born with some (or all) teeth missing.

Usually, the only options to manage this congenital condition are dentures or implants – both often costly and invasive. Co-founder of Toregem, Katsu Takahashi, hopes that the new tech they’re developing will allow patients to consider a “third option”.

Takahashi and his team have linked the main biological cause of anodontia to an excess of a protein called USAG-1. This pesky protein prohibits “tooth buds” from developing into healthy baby and adult teeth.

Those taking part in the trial tests will receive antibody treatments designed to block this USAG-1 process from taking place, resulting in (hopefully) the growth of brand-new teeth.

The whole process gets equally weirder and innovative when the team of scientists explains how they got to this monumental discovery.

Strangely enough, according to Toregem, the animal that has the most similar “tooth buds” to humans are ferrets.

In 2018, the scientists involved managed to successfully manipulate the proteins within these furry little critters in order to induce new tooth growth.

Once the human trials are successfully completed, we’ll know more about just how alike these lab ferrets’ chompers are to our own.

If you see someone growing brand-spanking new teeth in the next decade, thank a ferret!

[source:futurism]