I’ve read about this thing a few times over the last years. It seems all research is done in Japan, there’s a lot of fuss about it, but as far as I know it has never been proven to work if the tooth to be replaced is a permanent tooth. There is a lot of hype from the scientists “wo do believe it will work” kind of stuff.
The animal data that convinced regulators and researchers to proceed to human trials represents years of painstaking experimental work.
In the mouse studies published in scientific journals since 2018, blocking USAG-1 consistently produced supernumerary teeth in animals that should have grown only their standard set.
The ferret studies were particularly significant, because ferrets, like humans, are diphyodont, meaning they naturally develop only two sets of teeth in a lifetime.
When ferrets were treated with the USAG-1 blocking antibody, they grew additional teeth beyond their natural adult set.
The teeth were complete.
They were functional.
They bonded with the surrounding bone and tissue in the same way naturally occurring teeth do.
Great article that source, and it seems to agree with me ( I know…)
There is a version of this story circulating in popular media that frames it simply as a drug that grows back the teeth you lost as an adult.
That framing is exciting but premature, and it is worth being precise about what the current trial is and is not.
The Phase I trial is a safety study, not an efficacy trial.
Its participants are healthy adult men missing at least one molar.
The trial’s primary purpose is to determine whether the drug causes any adverse effects at human doses, not yet to demonstrate that a new tooth has grown in its place.
The timeline for broader clinical use reflects this reality.
The development timeline includes Phase I safety trials through 2025, Phase II efficacy trials in children with congenital tooth loss through 2027, and Phase III large-scale trials through 2029. Researchers aim for general availability by 2030.
And even when the drug eventually reaches the market, the initial patient population will be children born without teeth due to genetic conditions, not adults who need a molar replaced.
I’ve read about this thing a few times over the last years. It seems all research is done in Japan, there’s a lot of fuss about it, but as far as I know it has never been proven to work if the tooth to be replaced is a permanent tooth. There is a lot of hype from the scientists “wo do believe it will work” kind of stuff.
See my other comment itt for the source.
Great article that source, and it seems to agree with me ( I know…)
Isn’t that how most clinical trials work though? The post doesn’t imply that it’s solved or widely available yet
(aside from the chipped tooth photo in the thumbnail I guess)