Organ Regeneration | Tooth Regeneration

Strategy of future tooth regenerative therapy

Oral functions such as enunciation, mastication, and occlusion, are important aspects of good health and quality of life. After the loss of a tooth due to injury, caries, or disease, the tooth’s functions are traditionally restored by replacement with an artificial tooth, the use of a bridge, or osseointegrated dental implants. Although these artificial therapies are effective and contribute to the recovery of tooth tissue and the restoration of tooth function, improvements that enhance biological functions underlying tooth movement through bone remodelling have also been made. The ultimate goal of regenerative therapy is to develop fully functioning bioengineered organs that can replace lost or damaged organs following disease, injury, or aging.

Bioengineered tooth image

Bioengineerd hair image

Three-dimensional manipulation of single cells, "Organ germ methods"

We have developed an in vitro method for three-dimensional cell manipulation, which we refer to as a bioengineered organ germ method, involving compartmentalization between epithelial and mesenchymal cells at a high-cell density. This technology has the potential to be adapted to the regeneration of organs such as teeth and hair.
Kazuhisa Nakao et al., The development of a bioengineered organ germ method. Nature Methods. 4, 227-230, 2007.
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Strategy of future tooth regenerative therapy

Anticipated problems in the achievement of functional tooth regeneration.

To achieve the functional replacement of missing teeth, we propose a strategy to develop a bioengineered tooth germ by reproducing the embryonic organogenesis process.

Two major approaches, transplantations of a bioengineered tooth germ and/or a bioengineered mature tooth unit, comprising tooth, periodontal ligament, and alveolar bone, can generate a bioengineered tooth into the missing tooth region.
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