• Fondots@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    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.

    • Shard@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The problem there is that the teeth are supported by the jaw bones.

      We’ve had dental implants for the past 2 decades that are pretty indestructible as you describe. The only problem is the jaw bones you drill into aren’t that robust. Especially when you start putting multiple holes in it to hold the teeth. So the jaw bone part of the implant tends to fail after about a decade or two, even when the tooth part of it is still plenty robust.

      Which frankly is the same problem faced by all proposed cybernetic implants/augmentations. The cybernetic part can be as indestructible as you want, but the organics its attached to are comparatively fragile.

      • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        9 months ago

        Yeah and those implants are no joke in strength

        Trigger Warning: true story of workplace injury involving a coworker and his teeth.

        It's light on injury descriptions at least

        One of my coworkers a few months ago had a 200lbs roll of aluminum fall on his head. His implant collided with 3 teeth above it and blew those up.

        He’s mostly recovered at this point from the whole ordeal (concussion, smashed fingers, etc.) he’s just waiting on the bone grafts to heal up for the replacement teeth that are going in.

        And yes he got lucky that the roll mostly glanced off of him towards the front. Had he gotten hit straight on top of the head (or it glanced towards the back) he likely would have broken his neck or died.

        • Shard@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Jesus H. Christ.

          I’m glad your colleague got away with fairly minor injuries.

          I bet the OSHA department is having a hell of a time now.

          • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            9 months ago

            Honestly blew my mind that he walking the next time I saw him

            Oh yeah our safety department threw a fit especially when they found out that he was not wearing a hardhat

    • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Man’s out here with the monocrystalline-corundum-coated titanium based tooth implants

    • SomeSphinx@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      The jaws look would be so cool but imagine if you accidentally bit your cheek while chewing gum or something.

    • photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      Natural teeth attached to the jaw will always be better than any artificial alternative. Moreso now because they can be regrown.

    • guacupado@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I don’t really follow teeth stuff but don’t we already have teeth replacements today?

  • robocall@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    If we learn how to regrow teeth, I wonder if we’ll learn how to regrow bones after that.

    • Chriszz@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Soon we’ll be farming volunteer humans for bone marrow stew. Sign up, have several bones removed—femur, tibia, you name it—and cracked open for that sweet juicy marrow. Then a steady supply of bone growing pills to start the process all over again.

        • SuckMyWang@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Let’s be honest, once you get the taste for marrow stew the no volunteering part is merely an obstacle.

  • JdW@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Seeing as teething babies cry a lot, I wonder how painful this process will be.

    • LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch
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      9 months ago

      I had some “teething” as my wisdom teeth came in. It’s painful, and causes a fever, but babies have no understanding of why they are in pain, and no way to deal with it. As an adult, it’s not fun, but it’s manageable and much less scary.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      That’s because their teeth are busting through their fleshy gums. Presumably this would be growing out an existing hole.

      Dare ya to search “baby teeth skull”.

    • kamen@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Have you had your wisdom teeth grow? I figure this would be the same. With mine it wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience, but it wasn’t too bad either - and if it’s the same with that new treatment, I’d be willing to take the pain over the alternative of staying toothless when I grow old.

      • Starzil@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        Are you supposed to be able to feel wisdom teeth growing? Cause when I got mine there wasn’t any pain

        • kamen@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I guess that ideally you don’t feel anything at all, but I’ve heard from a few people that there was some itchiness and irritation, which mirrors my experience, so…

          • Starzil@lemm.ee
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            9 months ago

            Fortunately didn’t get any of that. Just accidentally biting my inner cheeks with them as they grew.

    • eumesmo@lemmings.world
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      9 months ago

      Less painful than looking at yourself every day in the mirror and staring at your with missing teeth…

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    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.

    • NarrativeBear@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Did you say your uncle had a third set of natural grown teeth? I always assumed everyone had two sets only.

      • Someology@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        No, some people have a complete third set. Some people only have a partial third set, or even have third teeth in just a few positions within the mouth. A dentist who told me about this said it’s a little rare, but not super rare.

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        Yes, they came in in his thirties, which was like 40-50 years ago. It hasn’t happened to anyone else in the family thankfully, though he himself never had kids.

        • neutral@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I have a friend that recently showed me his third set of teeth coming in about a centimeter below where his regular teeth grew in.

          • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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            9 months ago

            If at all possible make sure your friend is talking to a dentist or orthodontist about that - they may need calcium supplements.

    • ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      That appears to be the current goal, but it still looks like the phase-1 will be on healthy adults which is pretty creepy to imagine!

      • JareeZy@feddit.de
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        9 months ago

        Not really. The research papers mention an interaction between an antibody and a gene that controls tooth growth in both humans and mice. If that gene is supressed, there is no tooth growth.

        However, every tooth you can ever grow, or at least the embryonal tissue for it, is already present at birth. There is no way to get more, and activating this gene would give you additional tissue to develop into new teeth.

        • ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          So are they only looking at safety and toxicity in this trial, and not expecting to see additional tooth growth?

    • Laticauda@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      Not yet, but it could potentially lead to further innovations in that regard.

  • greenskye@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    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.