Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/10/researchers-discover-that-expe.html
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If that pans out it will be pretty effin cool.
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I expect this will be very heavily decried as a terrible, horrible thing by the American Dental Association, who by extension, will lobby vigorously to make sure clinical trials never get underway in the US. If this stuff ends up becoming legal in Canada, can anyone recommend a good dentist in Windsor, Ontario?
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A few months ago, I’ve complained to my dentist that despite the hype around a few articles years before, we still were not able to make teeth regrow (using stem cells).
His answer was that we actually were able to do it, but the problem was that the treatment caused cancers in a large number of the animals (rats ?) used to test the technique. So far, nobody had found a way to avoid that. I wonder if this will be plagued with the same issues.
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Makes sense. “Cells that have been caused to grow in a way they usually don’t” is pretty much what cancer IS.
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brain drug fixes teeth - who picked teeth to try? - WHAT ELSE CAN WE SWAB IT ON??? - arthritic joints? - other bone problems? - other organs? - freaky body modifications? - come on you researchers, get cracking!
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Questions: Must Tideglusib be administered for the entire life of the patient, and – if so – would regrowth (with continually administered Tideglusib) continue in unexpected and undesirable ways?
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Certain websites that consider themselves “hubs” of entertainment will most likely be among the first to run ads for “one weird trick” involving experimental uses…
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See @Trenien’s comment above about cancer…
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My wife had to fight tooth and nail (mostly tooth…) with our dentist to get him to refer her for sealants. She has deep grooves in her molars, and wanted an added layer of protection. His best response was “that’s for kids,” (why?) and “It’s only temporary” (5-10 years?!) without not much more than bluster other than that. It’s slowly catching on that SOME people MIGHT be candidates in the articles I could find, and she did end up getting hers, but only because she’s an unstoppable force. That battle definitely made me have some cynical thoughts about DDS’ perverse incentives, and hearing this news made me think them again…
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Hi, Mindysan. Thanks. I see it now. Trenien’s post is about a dentist who talks about an unsuccessful treatment “using stem cells”. (I think the operative word is “using”.) The treatment in Doctorow’s post is a drug “applied topically to teeth… which allowed [subjects] to sprout new stem cells”. It sounds like the treatments (assuming the KCL researchers’ discovered side effect becomes a treatment) differ in methodology. Still, there’s nothing to say though that the KCL treatment won’t end up with just as nasty side effects.
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Hopefully I’ll be able to keep my pearly whites long enough till treatments like this become accessible to the general populace.
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Color me unsurprised that a treatment that encourages the growth of new stem-cells in relatively dormant tissue can cause cancer. Because I figured from the description that cancer was a likely side effect. Now it’s possible that a delivery method that limited the spread of the drug might still be useful. And remember, Rogain started out as a heart medication before they discoverd that it would promote hair growth.
oops, Brainspore beat me to this comment.
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I got sealants when I was 12 because of deep molars. I still have a few 30+ years later. Your wife may never need to fight this particular battle again. 
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Ends badly.
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OMG - gimmie. My two irrational-ish fears are getting Alzheimer’s and getting a ton of cavities.
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Frankly, I’m shocked that wasn’t tried first before teeth.
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Well sure, it seems like a good idea now, but just wait until everyone who does this starts having their bones fall apart. It will turn out that eating bags of candy everyday to get your 5000 kcal isn’t a good idea.
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