Teeth have always kind of struck me as something we could eventually not just replace or regrow and make as good as new, but actually replace with something better.
Teeth are, by their nature, subject to a lot of wear and tear, corrosive environments, have a lot of nooks and crannies that need to be cleaned regularly, etc.
How fucking cool would it be to have some sort of cyborg teeth made of some material that won't wear down, is more corrosion resistant, stronger than your natural teeth, etc? You could use your teeth as a bottle opener with impunity, or do everything else your parents always warned you not to do with your teeth.
I'm certainly no doctor or material scientist to suggest what the ideal tooth replacement material would be, but imagine having some kind of titanium alloy super teeth that would never wear down, corrode, or get cavities no matter what kind of neglect or abuse you subject them to, and are purposely engineered for easier flossing, may e even more efficient biting and chewing. Sure, the Jaws look isn't everyone's aesthetic, but some of us might consider it a worthwhile trade-off.
In the meantime though, this is damn cool if it pans out.
That's pretty awesome for some folks - my uncle had three sets of teeth, so the last set was extremely brittle. I'm curious if calcium supplements and this drug could provide an alternative to dentures.
I could be crazy but I swear I've heard this a number of times before. It always seemed wonderful as my teeth tend to self-destruct. But nothing ever seems to come from it.
It would be nice if we just naturally grew a new set every 10 years or so but people with strong teeth would be quite annoyed at that especially if they had to do alignment.
This is absolutely amazing! I have oligodontia myself and just the thought of being able to actually get those teeth back is pretty cool! I already have 3 implants - still have 8 more to go - but placing them HURTS... would be pretty interesting to see how far they're in a couple of years.
Super excited for this. One of my adult teeth just never grew in. I tried to get an implant, but the lack of tooth also resulted in too little bone there to support the implant. I'm hopeful this would eventually allow me to have a real tooth there instead of my very fragile bridge.
I'm thinking there are going to be very interesting developments in the years to come. So many things that were considered immutable constants about life may change.
This is really cool, and I hope it pans out, but I have a bit of a transhumanist streak and it kind of feels to me like teeth are something that we could eventually not just regrow or replace and make as good as new, but actually replace with something even better with technology/materials that are either already here or not too far off.
I'm certainly no doctor or material scientist, but