TOKYO – A Japanese research team is making progress on the development of a groundbreaking medication that may allow people to grow new teeth, with c
Unless I’m misreading the article, right now this seems to just be regrowth for a very specific medical condition where teeth didn’t come in in the first place?
The article mentions the possibility of stimulating growth in a latent third set of buds all adults have. But that doesn’t seem to be what this specific breakthrough is.
Wow, what a game changer this would be for so many people. I wonder how accessible it will be to the people who are most likely to need it?
Most new things are not at all accessible to impoverished people (we saw this with covid vaccine inequality) and they are the ones most likely to have tooth loss due to lack of access to dental care.
This is true in the short term, but drugs and treatments can get cheaper over time, whereas implant dentistry is intrinsically expensive in a way that’s unlikely to ever improve.
@Ertebolle "The tooth regrowth medicine is intended for people who lack a full set of adult teeth due to congenital factors. "
So, not likely to solve the problem of tooth loss through lack of dental care :(
Bugger. Back to printing disposable ones on the Ender-3?
they’re only slightly toxic, you’ll be fine
PLA, Google says it’s food safe. I’ve never really thought about it.
Both PLA and PET are food safe but I wouldn’t use them for long-term food related stuff.
The surface of a print contains thousands of valleys, nooks and crannies and other hard to reach spots that serve as ideal breeding grounds for bacteria.
Thanks for copying me in, I really should have read the whole article first!
They do also talk about the potential to activate a latent third set of tooth buds in humans who have lost their adult teeth. They seem to have already done this in animals.
I was shocked to learn that dental sealant exists. This simple procedure is very effective in preventing cavities, so once a kid has adult teeth they’ll be protected into their 20s.
Yet, many people don’t know to ask for this and can’t afford the upfront cost (about $40 per tooth). Yet, unless your kid has fewer than 3 cavities as a teen it is the most cost effective and wellness promoting option.
It’s wild to me this isn’t a heavily subsidized and promoted procedure, but I guess dental care =/= healthcare…
I know what you mean. I’m always amazed no one ever told me about preventive dentistry, and some people I tell seem to view it with suspicion.
Worse, where I live the dentists you see as a poor person usually push extraction as a cost-effective option when something goes wrong. But it can cause issues with chewing (the other teeth can move), and bone loss in the jaw.
Candy is back on the menu!
I can’t wait to pay for another orthodontic treatment!
