Dentistry iQ adds:
“A new technique pioneered at the Tissue Engineering, and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory of Dr. Jeremy Mao, Edward V. Zegarelli Professor of Dental Medicine, and a professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia University can orchestrate the body’s stem cells to migrate to three-dimensional scaffold that is infused with the growth factor. This can yield an anatomically correct tooth in as soon as nine weeks once implanted in the mouth.”
Moreover,
“Dental implants usually consist of a cone-shaped titanium screw with a roughened or smooth surface and are placed in the jaw bone. While implant surgery may be performed as an outpatient procedure, healing times vary widely, and successful implantation is a result of multiple visits to certified clinicians, including general dentists, oral surgeons, prosthodontists, and periodontists.”
The technique of growing a new tooth will take about two months, and despite the fact that it will be less invasive, it can also be less expensive.
Dr. Jeremy Mao maintains:
“Key consideration in tooth regeneration is finding a cost-effective approach that can translate into therapies for patients who cannot afford or who are not suitable candidates for dental implants. Cell-homing-based tooth regeneration may provide a distinct pathway toward clinical translation.”
According to Columbia University Medical Center:
“Dr. Mao’s technique not only eliminates the need to grow teeth in a Petri dish, but it is the first to achieve regeneration of anatomically correct teeth by using the body’s own resources. Factor in the faster recovery time and the comparatively natural process of regrowth (as opposed to implantation), and you have a massively appealing dental treatment.”
Therefore, this university has already filed patent applications in regard to the technology and is trying to find associates to help its commercialization, while in the meantime, Dr. Mao is considering the best approach for applying this groundbreaking technique to cost-effective clinical therapies.