Lab-grown teeth could offer alternatives to implants

Scientists have gotten one step closer to growing replacement teeth in the lab, a development that could pave the way for new alternatives to unpleasant dental fillings and root canals.

- JESS THOMSON

The team developed a special material that allows cells to communicate with one another just as they would in the body, therefore enabling them to develop into tooth cells. The process allows scientists to grow teeth from a patient's cells in the lab. It could one day enable damaged or infected teeth to be replaced by real teeth, rather than being repaired using fillings and other dental procedures.