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A multinational research team headed by Songtao Shi, DDS, PhD, has successfully regenerated tooth root and supporting periodontal ligaments to restore tooth function in an animal model. The breakthrough holds significant promise for clinical application in human patients. The study appeared December 20, 2006, in the inaugural issue of PLoS ONE.
Using stem cells harvested from the extracted wisdom teeth of 18- to 20-year-olds, Shi, et al have created sufficient root and ligament structure to support a crown restoration in their animal model. The resulting tooth restoration closely resembled the original tooth in function and strength. The technique relies on stem cells harvested from the root apical papilla, which is responsible for the development of a tooth’s root and periodontal ligament. Previous studies conducted by Shi and collaborator Stan Gronthos at NIH had utilized dental pulp stem cells.
Says Shi, “The apical papilla provides better stem cells for root structure regeneration. With this technique, the strength of the tooth restoration is not quite as strong as the original tooth, but we believe it is sufficient to withstand normal wear and tear.”
Shi hopes to move the technique to clinical trials within the next several years, a potential boon for dental patients who are not appropriate candidates for dental implant therapy or would prefer living tissue derived from their own teeth. According to Shi, in the not-so-distant future, wisdom teeth and even baby teeth once left to the tooth fairy may become valuable therapeutic tools.
“We will be able to provide not only this technique, but other new therapies utilizing patients’ own stem cells harvested from their preserved teeth. “This is a very exciting discovery and one that I hope to see in widespread clinical use in the near future,” says Shi.
Funding for the study came from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Beijing Major Scientific Program grant, and the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
(Source: University of Southern California, December 22, 2006)
