Well, though it sounds pretty undoable, the good news is that, scientist are on the verge of using stem cells to increase the growth of calcified tissue which is what your teeth are made up of. Using their ground breaking technique, the stem cells can immensely encourage the growth of calcified tissue, which are nothing but regenerative fillings that allow teeth to heal themselves.
What it means for patients?
And that only means a stop to root canals. This new development has been created and developed by researchers at the University of Nottingham and Wyss Institute at Harvard University. This could spare millions of dental patients from the unbearable pain when undergoing dental procedures which usually involve lot of pain.
It uses stem cells in the growth of dentin, which is a calcified tissue. It is found between the inner pulp and outer layer of tooth enamel.
According to Dr Adam Celiz, Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham, “Existing dental fillings are toxic to cells and are therefore incompatible with pulp tissue inside the tooth.”
“In cases of dental pulp disease and injury, a root canal is typically performed to remove the infected tissues.”
“We have designed synthetic biomaterials that can be used similarly to dental fillings but can be placed in direct contact with pulp tissue to stimulate the native stem cell population for repair and regeneration of pulp tissue and the surrounding dentin.”
It is already in progress
The treatment has already earned researchers a prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry. The researchers now want to get more funding which can help them develop the technique for global use. This only means, that the patient need not visit the dental clinic often for dental procedures.
Dr Kyle Vining from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University has said that, “We are excited about the promise of therapeutic biomaterials for bringing regenerative medicine to restorative dentistry.”
As you can see, dental fillings no longer need to be painful, with this simple process. Hopefully, in a few years, we should see this happening in a dentist near you when you go in for a dental filling and have it done without any pain involved.
