Do Teeth Continue to Grow Back
Why Don't We Grow Another Set of Teeth in Adulthood?
Losing a baby tooth is a natural occurrence. This is the reason why various countries around the world have their own "tooth fairy" myths.
When a milk tooth falls out, it makes room in the jaw for the adult tooth to grow. Unfortunately, when you lose adult teeth, you do not grow another set, which can lead to various dental health complications.
Why don't we produce a third set of adult teeth around middle age?
With so many people experiencing dental problems around the ages of 40 to 60, wouldn't it be great if we could grow a whole new set of healthy teeth to replace the ones we used in our teens, 20s, and 30s?
If this were possible, it would alleviate the need for dental prostheses like dentures, bridges, crowns, and implants.
If you've ever asked why we don't grow a third set of teeth, here's why:
Going From Baby to Adult Teeth
Most babies aren't born with any visible teeth. It takes about 2 years for all 20 baby teeth to fully erupt through the gums.
Why do we develop baby teeth? The answer may surprise you.
While it is true that baby teeth are needed for the proper chewing of food and speech development, the most crucial role of baby teeth is to preserve space for adult teeth to grow underneath .
You may be wondering: why we don't just grow adult teeth, to begin with?
The answer lies in how big and how many teeth adults have . There are a total of 32 teeth in adults . If you check the teething chart of adults , you would find that a baby's jaw isn't wide or large enough to support a full set of adult teeth.
Also, if babies had adult teeth packed away in their gums, their heads would be bigger than they currently are, making childbirth practically impossible.
Knowing this, it's important to keep baby teeth clean and healthy .
When baby teeth are lost prematurely due to cavities or extractions, it can cause problems with adult teeth. This can lead to crowding or a misaligned bite, which can cause significant problems when the adult teeth start growing in.
Other Creatures Grow New Teeth, Why Don't We?
Humans, however, are different. We are known as diphyodont , which means that we only grow two sets of teeth in our lifetime.
Sharks , on the other hand, are polyphyodont , which means that they can produce multiple sets of teeth (sometimes within minutes).
Alligators , too, can regenerate a lost tooth up to 50 times.
Could this type of tooth growth be possible in humans? Researchers at the University of Southern California think so.
Those researchers are working on methods that could one day stimulate humans to regenerate teeth in case one is lost or knocked out.
Imagine that.
What you need to know is that regeneration is extremely common in the animal world. Salamanders, stone crabs, and starfish are just a few examples of creatures that can regrow lost appendages .
As it turns out, humans also have the same ability, albeit dormant.
Cheng Ming Chuong, who lead the USC study, says that humans contain the DNA to regrow lost limbs and even teeth, but the ability isn't "turned on".
That fact poses bizarre possibilities for the future. If scientists could activate the DNA needed to regrow teeth, Hockey players, for instance, would be able to grow new sets of teeth nearly every other day.
Lasers for Growing New Teeth?
While California researchers are working on activating lost segments of our DNA, Harvard scientists hope that lasers might be the answer to growing new sets of teeth .
Researchers are using lasers to activate stem cells, which stimulate teeth growth in rats and human dental tissue. The results of the successful tests were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine .
The Harvard researchers use stem cells, which exist all throughout the body. Stem cells have the ability to become various types of cells which means that they could repair or even replace damaged or diminished tissue.
Using lasers to regrow teeth would be ideal. The procedure would be a minimally invasive technique and would only require shining a specified light on the damaged area. Or, in this case, the gap where the old tooth was lost.
But don't throw out your dentures or pull out your implants just yet. The laser technique to regrow teeth is still in its infancy and hasn't been used on humans…yet.
So Why Don't We Grow Three Sets of Teeth?
The "tooth" of the matter is that we are born with all of the teeth we are ever going to grow.
Those teeth are small developing follicles which grow and erupt through the surface when they are formed.
While there have been rare cases of hyperdontia , where an individual is born with extra or supernumerary teeth, for most of us, two sets of teeth are the maximum we will ever have.
That is why it is important to take care of the teeth you do have because you won't get another chance.
Of course, your dentist can replace your lost teeth with dentures, implants , and bridges, but there's no substitute for your natural-born teeth.
Until scientists can perfect the procedure, regrowing teeth is impossible. This is why you have to make sure you take care of the ones you're born with. See your general dentist regularly, brush and floss often, and you will hopefully retain your natural teeth long into old age.
Visit Dr. Pamela Li and make sure you're keeping on top of your dental health. Book an appointment by calling 613-232-0550.
Source: https://www.drpamelali.ca/why-dont-we-grow-another-set-of-teeth-in-adulthood/
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