• Fondots@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Teeth have always kind of struck me as something we could eventually not just replace or regrow and make as good as new, but actually replace with something better.

    Teeth are, by their nature, subject to a lot of wear and tear, corrosive environments, have a lot of nooks and crannies that need to be cleaned regularly, etc.

    How fucking cool would it be to have some sort of cyborg teeth made of some material that won’t wear down, is more corrosion resistant, stronger than your natural teeth, etc? You could use your teeth as a bottle opener with impunity, or do everything else your parents always warned you not to do with your teeth.

    I’m certainly no doctor or material scientist to suggest what the ideal tooth replacement material would be, but imagine having some kind of titanium alloy super teeth that would never wear down, corrode, or get cavities no matter what kind of neglect or abuse you subject them to, and are purposely engineered for easier flossing, may e even more efficient biting and chewing. Sure, the Jaws look isn’t everyone’s aesthetic, but some of us might consider it a worthwhile trade-off.

    In the meantime though, this is damn cool if it pans out.

    • Shard@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The problem there is that the teeth are supported by the jaw bones.

      We’ve had dental implants for the past 2 decades that are pretty indestructible as you describe. The only problem is the jaw bones you drill into aren’t that robust. Especially when you start putting multiple holes in it to hold the teeth. So the jaw bone part of the implant tends to fail after about a decade or two, even when the tooth part of it is still plenty robust.

      Which frankly is the same problem faced by all proposed cybernetic implants/augmentations. The cybernetic part can be as indestructible as you want, but the organics its attached to are comparatively fragile.

      • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 year ago

        Yeah and those implants are no joke in strength

        Trigger Warning: true story of workplace injury involving a coworker and his teeth.

        It's light on injury descriptions at least

        One of my coworkers a few months ago had a 200lbs roll of aluminum fall on his head. His implant collided with 3 teeth above it and blew those up.

        He’s mostly recovered at this point from the whole ordeal (concussion, smashed fingers, etc.) he’s just waiting on the bone grafts to heal up for the replacement teeth that are going in.

        And yes he got lucky that the roll mostly glanced off of him towards the front. Had he gotten hit straight on top of the head (or it glanced towards the back) he likely would have broken his neck or died.

        • Shard@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Jesus H. Christ.

          I’m glad your colleague got away with fairly minor injuries.

          I bet the OSHA department is having a hell of a time now.

          • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            1 year ago

            Honestly blew my mind that he walking the next time I saw him

            Oh yeah our safety department threw a fit especially when they found out that he was not wearing a hardhat

    • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Man’s out here with the monocrystalline-corundum-coated titanium based tooth implants

    • SomeSphinx@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The jaws look would be so cool but imagine if you accidentally bit your cheek while chewing gum or something.

    • photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Natural teeth attached to the jaw will always be better than any artificial alternative. Moreso now because they can be regrown.

  • robocall@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If we learn how to regrow teeth, I wonder if we’ll learn how to regrow bones after that.

    • Chriszz@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Soon we’ll be farming volunteer humans for bone marrow stew. Sign up, have several bones removed—femur, tibia, you name it—and cracked open for that sweet juicy marrow. Then a steady supply of bone growing pills to start the process all over again.

        • SuckMyWang@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Let’s be honest, once you get the taste for marrow stew the no volunteering part is merely an obstacle.

  • JdW@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Seeing as teething babies cry a lot, I wonder how painful this process will be.

    • LastYearsPumpkin@feddit.ch
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      1 year ago

      I had some “teething” as my wisdom teeth came in. It’s painful, and causes a fever, but babies have no understanding of why they are in pain, and no way to deal with it. As an adult, it’s not fun, but it’s manageable and much less scary.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That’s because their teeth are busting through their fleshy gums. Presumably this would be growing out an existing hole.

      Dare ya to search “baby teeth skull”.

    • eumesmo@lemmings.world
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      1 year ago

      Less painful than looking at yourself every day in the mirror and staring at your with missing teeth…

    • guacupado@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Crying isn’t always about pain. Babies can’t talk and don’t have the capacity to realize what’s going on. A lot of their crying can simply be chalked up to the frustration of not being able to communicate, not necessarily from pain.

    • Haziiieeeeeee@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Only if you’re American and can pay 15k, the rest of us will wait 5 years… Have our appointment cancelled wait 4 more and by the time we’re assessed they will tell us we waited to long and there is nothing they can do for us.

      It took them 6 years to take my gallbladder out even with it causing horrid pain… I mean covid did happen in the middle but still diagnosed 2016 and surgery is 2021 is kind of fucked by any standards.

      • Aceticon@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        As far as I know, no national health systems cover cosmetic dental work.

        Certainly both in the UK and in Portugal I always had to pay for it from my own pocket.

        Mind you, neither of those countries has anywhere near US prices even for private healthcare.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    That’s pretty awesome for some folks - my uncle had three sets of teeth, so the last set was extremely brittle. I’m curious if calcium supplements and this drug could provide an alternative to dentures.

    • NarrativeBear@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Did you say your uncle had a third set of natural grown teeth? I always assumed everyone had two sets only.

      • Someology@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        No, some people have a complete third set. Some people only have a partial third set, or even have third teeth in just a few positions within the mouth. A dentist who told me about this said it’s a little rare, but not super rare.

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Yes, they came in in his thirties, which was like 40-50 years ago. It hasn’t happened to anyone else in the family thankfully, though he himself never had kids.

        • neutral@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I have a friend that recently showed me his third set of teeth coming in about a centimeter below where his regular teeth grew in.

          • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            If at all possible make sure your friend is talking to a dentist or orthodontist about that - they may need calcium supplements.

    • ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That appears to be the current goal, but it still looks like the phase-1 will be on healthy adults which is pretty creepy to imagine!

      • JareeZy@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Not really. The research papers mention an interaction between an antibody and a gene that controls tooth growth in both humans and mice. If that gene is supressed, there is no tooth growth.

        However, every tooth you can ever grow, or at least the embryonal tissue for it, is already present at birth. There is no way to get more, and activating this gene would not give you additional tissue to develop into new teeth.

        • ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          So are they only looking at safety and toxicity in this trial, and not expecting to see additional tooth growth?

  • Cihta@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I could be crazy but I swear I’ve heard this a number of times before. It always seemed wonderful as my teeth tend to self-destruct. But nothing ever seems to come from it.

    It would be nice if we just naturally grew a new set every 10 years or so but people with strong teeth would be quite annoyed at that especially if they had to do alignment.

    • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Honestly I was hoping crispr would take off more than it actually did come because I’d love to splice myself with the jeans of a shark and just get better teeth every time I lose a tooth

      • Patches@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I am scared if it ever takes off - it will only exist for the rich.

        We will soon have a world of CRISPR enhanced humans, and well… me.

      • Cihta@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That would be amazing… imagine face planting from a stupid stunt and being like no biggie they’ll grow back. Works for kids and we already know from admittedly gross tumors the human body can grow hair and teeth. Just have to get them in the right place.

        Also agree with the other comment to your post… crispr will likely be for the rich. Hell, it probably already is. A cynical view but i don’t sit at that table so who knows.

    • rosymind@leminal.space
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      1 year ago

      I’ve worked in dental in the past (assistant) and my brother has been sending me these types of articles since I started back in 2004. I always say something like “wild” or “amazing” but really NOTHING ever comes of it so I stopped actually reading what he sends me. It’s just a waste of time.

      I’ll believe it when I see it

      • Cihta@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Thank you for confirming I’m not crazy. At least in that aspect. And also, as someone who has spent an insane amount of hours in that chair thank you for being a DA and dealing with us.

    • Mr_Dr_Oink@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      My wifes nieces and nephew all had something (DNA? stem cells? Not sure, cant remember) taken by someone in the family who is working on this science to regrow teeth. He doesn’t seem to think its too far off last time i spoke to him.

      • Cihta@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I didn’t mean to imply it wasn’t possible. I have a relative that works for ITER. And similarly it’s possible but not in my lifetime i imagine.

        It might seem silly to relate the 2 but it’s just a feeling… major applicable innovation seems lacking.

        Also waiting on sodium-ion or glass batteries as well.