I expect that some of the Morelife readers will
find the following story of interest, since with
a much longer life-span, it would be convenient
to regrow teeth and repair bones easily.

[Not merely "convenient", but essential for both quality of life and even
continued health, since well functioning bones and teeth are a necessary part of
good health. --Paul]


Tooth regrowth has been a subject of research
worldwide. About three years ago, there was an
article in the New Scientist about the work of UK
scientists using stem cells to regenerate teeth
in mice.

For story about the company Odontis working on this, see

http://www.futurepundit.com/archives/002090.html
http://www.odontis.co.uk/tech.htm

Unfortunately the process is not anywhere near to being available to the public.

Fortunately, the June 28th Globe and Mail has a
story about a different method for tooth regrowth
by using ultrasound, a method which has been
tried on human volunteers, and which has also
been used to regrow bones.

University of Alberta scientists Drs. El-Bialy
and Chen have obtained approvals from Canadian
and US regulatory bodies for this tiny device and
have applied for patents. Now work continues to
get the device ready for dentists' offices. It
should be on the market in two years.

Read the full June 30 story at:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060628.TEETH28/TPStory/Nation\
al

[The Globe and Mail no longer has this story available to read without
subscribing to their "insider edition". While they offer a "free trial", one
must provide billing information (which means that in order for it to be free
one will have to cancel the subscription after reading the article or one will
get billed on one's credit card).
The University of Alberta, where the researchers are based, provided this
article in their Express News on 6/28:
http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=7691 **Kitty]

[Although the beginning of the article uses the phrase "regrow teeth", the
researchers do not go so far in their own quotes. Therefore, it is not clear to
me that this method can be used to regrow an entire new tooth. However, since I
currently have a large molar that appears to have unfixable decay starting in
its root (and I have been told that it will eventually have to be removed), I
will be watching this development with some interest while I daily work to
prevent further decay. --Paul]


You can also try searching via Google on
"El-Bialy" and "teeth" or "tooth" or "university
of alberta" because various reporters telephoned
the researchers to interview them, and then added
different bits to their own articles, along with
what appeared in the Globe and Mail.

Apparently sound vibration is part of a large
field of research on vibrations of various kinds
and applications to health - e.g. standing on a
vibrating platform might reverse osteoporosis and
might help astronauts counter bone loss in space.

[Except that in weightlessness, how do they "stand" on it? Perhaps they simply
need to be firmly attached to a vibrating source. --Paul]

[Maybe a strong bungee cord would work. In fact, I think I've seen photos of
astronauts in space working on a treadmill with such a holding device. **Kitty]


My summary of the Globe and Mail article:

The wireless device, roughly half the size of a
nail on your baby finger ... can be mounted on a
tiny brace's bracket or a plastic removable
crown, needs to be activated for 20 minutes a day
for a total of four weeks for results to be
noticed [...]

Tarek El-Bialy [of the] faculty of medicine and
dentistry, originally came up with the research
to repair dental tissue using a treatment called
low-intensity pulsed ultrasound.

He first tested it on rabbits and monkeys before
successfully moving to humans and his studies
have been published in the American Journal of
Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics.

[All his papers can be found by searching PubMed
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed ) with "El-Bialy T".
--Paul]


Some abstracts:

Repair of orthodontically induced root resorption by ultrasound in humans.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1\
5316473&dopt=Citation

Effect of ultrasound on rabbit mandibular incisor
formation and eruption after mandibular osteodistraction.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1\
4560274&dopt=Citation


[These are 2 of the papers that can be found by the above mentioned PubMed
search. He used ultrasound in conjunction with a procedure called
"osteodistraction", which is apparently a fairly new dental procedure for
lengthening/generating new bone without the need for bone grafts. The procedure
is often used as part of the preparation for implants, but with the application
of ultrasound it appears that not only will the bone generation be greatly
enhanced, but that new tooth buds may be caused to form. --Paul]

__________________

-- Martha Cumming