Organ Regeneration | Tooth Regeneration
Bioengineered tooth eruption and occlusion by bioengineered tooth germ transplantation
Figure: Eruption of a bioengineered tooth
(a) GFP-labeled bioengineered tooth erupted in the oral environment of adult mice.
(b) Eruption process of bioengineered tooth.
Functional tooth regeneration by transplantation of bioengineered mature tooth
Figure: Transplantation of bioengineered tooth unit
(a) Generation of a bioengineered tooth unit
(b) Occlusal view of a bioengineered tooth unit after oral transplantation (green; bioengineered tooth unit)
Engraftment of bioengineered tooth unit through the bone integration
In the dental treatment, it has been expected to transplant of a bioengineered tooth unit comprising mature tooth, periodontal ligament and alveolar bone into the tooth loss region through bone integration, which is connected between recipient bone and bioengineered alveolar bone in a bioengineered tooth unit.
Partial bone integration was observed at 14 days after transplantation, and full bone integration around a bioengineered tooth root was seen at 40 days after transplantation. Our current findings suggested that bioengineered teeth can be engrafted into regions of tooth loss through bone integration.
Figure: Engraftment of the bioengineered tooth unit
Histological analysis of the engrafted bioengineered tooth unit at 40 days post-transplantation.
NT, natural tooth; BT, bioengineered tooth;
AB, alveolar bone; PDL, periodontal ligament.
Bone regeneration using bioengineered tooth unit
Figure: Alveolar bone regeneration following the transplantation of a bioengineered tooth unit.
(a) Micro-CT images in adult murine natural mandible(left), and extensive bone defect model (right, arrowhead; bone defect)
(b) Three-dimensional superposition of micro-CT images of natural dentition (gray, double dotted line), a transplanted bioengineered tooth unit, and a no-transplantation control (left) at day 0 in an extensive bone defect (red, straight line), and at 45 days after transplantation (green, dotted line). The superior edges of the recipient alveolar bone are indicated by each line.
Functional tooth regeneration – Regeneration of periodontal tissue
Periodontal ligaments play essential roles in the pathogenic and physiologic responses of teeth to extreme mechanical forces from bone remodeling caused by orthodontic tooth movement. The periodontal ligaments of bioengineered teeth have been shown to reproduce successful, natural bone remodeling in response to mechanical stress, indicating that a bioengineered tooth can regenerate critical dental functions through the restoration and re-establishment of cooperation with the maxillofacial region.
Figure: Experimental tooth movement.
(a) Schematic representation of the tooth movement by the experimental orthodontic treatment.
(b) Sections of natural and bioengineered tooth were analyzed by TRAP staining and in situ hybridization of OCN at day 6 of the orthodontic treatment.
Functional tooth regeneration – Regeneration of the neural tissue
We have provided evidence that nerve fibers innervating both the pulp and periodontal ligament (PDL) of a bioengineered tooth have the appropriate perceptive potential for nociceptive stimulation and can properly transduce these events to the central nervous system.
Figure:
Invasion of the nerve fiber
in bioengineered tooth.
Nerve fibers are detected in the pulp / PDL in the bioengineered tooth.
D, dentin; P, dental pulp; AB, alveolar bone; PDL, periodontal ligament
