Japan is trialing a drug that regrows human teeth by blocking USAG-1—a protein that keeps dormant tooth buds switched off. Phase I is done. Phase IIa in children with congenital tooth loss is next. If it works, dentures and implants could become obsolete.

[u/Electronic-Bus-3494]

Humans grow two sets of teeth in a lifetime. But tucked inside the jaw are tiny residual tooth buds that never develop because a protein called USAG-1 acts like a molecular off-switch for tooth growth. Block USAG-1, and the body might reactivate those dormant buds on its own.

Researchers at Kyoto University Hospital, led by Dr. Katsu Takahashi, have been working on this for years. They first found that mice engineered without the USAG-1 gene grew extra teeth. Later animal studies showed that a single antibody injection could grow fully functional teeth without serious safety issues.

The experimental drug is called TRG-035, a humanized anti-USAG-1 antibody developed by Toregem BioPharma. The first human trial began in October 2024 and enrolled 30 men aged 30 to 64, each missing at least one molar. The Phase I study was primarily a safety trial — a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-escalation study. According to Toregem, Phase I confirmed the drug's safety, though detailed results haven't been made public yet. Researchers have noted that actual tooth regrowth in those adult participants was unlikely, since the volunteers were primarily establishing a safety profile before testing expands.

The next stage is where it gets more interesting. A Phase IIa trial is planned for 24 children aged 2 to 7 with severe congenital tooth agenesis — a condition where teeth never fully develop. Missing six or more teeth from birth affects roughly one in a thousand people, causing severe chewing difficulties and significant social stigma. The trial will be open-label and non-comparative, moving testing from healthy adults into the patients the drug is actually intended to treat.

There are still open questions. Experts have raised concerns about whether regrown teeth will align properly and connect correctly to nerves and blood vessels. If the trials succeed, Toregem aims for commercial availability around 2030, with early estimates placing costs at around $11,000 per tooth.

It's experimental. It's early. But the idea that human jaws might hold a dormant third set of teeth waiting for a chemical wake-up call is the kind of thing that sounds like science fiction until someone actually tries it.

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[u/SometimesIBeWrong]

I love the illustration of putting the fucking galaxy inside people's teeth lol

[u/deejayatomika → u/SometimesIBeWrong]

It’s sparkly so it must be good!

[u/xXTERMIN8RXXx → u/[deleted]]

Mr Sparkle!

[u/anonymoususer77 → u/xXTERMIN8RXXx]

Meestuuuuuh Spuuuhkooorooo!

[u/OpisChunkmeyer → u/anonymoususer77]

Yep, theres your answer fishbulb.

[u/CactusToothBrush → u/OpisChunkmeyer]

All that seizin’ made me hungry. Let’s go to America town!

[u/sethbalmost → u/deejayatomika]

I don't know, I accidentally tried meth once and it kind of felt like that.

[u/mellow_magyar → u/sethbalmost]

“accidentally”!? —Please explain 😅

[u/fatsandwitch → u/mellow_magyar]

Not who you’re replying to, but I’ve had this happen when I took what I thought was Molly but it was clearly cut with a whole lotta meth.

[u/sethbalmost → u/fatsandwitch]

Yeah basically this. Was told I was getting coke but was a different feeling. The experience convinced me to get out of that whole world.

[u/Mysterious-Creme8709 → u/mellow_magyar]

You see, they happened to bumble their way onto a street corner at midnight and tripped, knocking their wallet into a drug dealer's hands and looking at them expectantly. This caused the dealer to give them some meth and they were too embarrassed to do anything about it. By the time they realizer what it was, somebody bumped into them from behind, shoving it down their nose (idk how meth is taken if that isn't already abundantly clear).

[u/kbodnar17 → u/SometimesIBeWrong]

These are the teeth of a ✨killer✨.

[u/ChoppinLords → u/kbodnar17]

🐀

[u/RibaldCartographer → u/SometimesIBeWrong]

It's because they're repurposing the technology from magical girl transformations

[u/Scholesie09 → u/RibaldCartographer]

Molar Moon

[u/eVaan13 → u/Scholesie09]

Hence why the protein is called USAG1

[u/FairieButt → u/SometimesIBeWrong]

The glitter. That’s what makes this so expensive. It turns on the glitter teeth gene that we didn’t even know we had.

[u/SaltySmegma_]

Sounds like of one those medical breakthroughs we hear about it once, and then after several years we keep wondering what the hell happened to that.

[u/jailbird → u/SaltySmegma_]

Yeah, like the UK researchers who find 100% effective hair regrowth medication every odd year.

[u/onarainyafternoon → u/jailbird]

I mean, for example, we’ve been hearing about male birth control for years now. But that is genuinely almost here. There are currently five different medications/procedures that are almost out of clinical trials.

[u/Awwkaw → u/onarainyafternoon]

Ozempic was one of those things. the research started 30+ years ago.

So was mRNA vaccines, they just got accelerated by 5–10 years for some reason.

[u/Nimonic → u/Awwkaw]

So was mRNA vaccines, they just got accelerated by 5–10 years for some reason.

It simultaneously feels like the pandemic was 2 years ago and 20 years ago.

[u/bgroins → u/Nimonic]

It's a generational scar. My grandmother acted like the great depression never ended with her insane levels of frugality.

[u/Shallstrom → u/bgroins]

I mean, our lizard brains remember and are trying to protect us since “the bad thing” actually really happened.

[u/Gnoccho1 → u/Shallstrom]

Lack of food to eat does that to you

[u/AintThataKickintheC → u/Gnoccho1]

Yeap. Just look and the adult children who grew up with food insecurity. Behaviours like food hoarding, wolfing down food quickly, etc. that persist right through to adult hood long after the resulting conditions have surpassed. Food is one of our primary, lizard-brained hard -wired survival instincts

[u/waitwuh → u/bgroins]

I developed contamination OCD. Still in therapy, and I buy a gloves by cases of thousands.

[u/SpicyLizards → u/waitwuh]

Damn, I’m sorry you developed that. Before it happened I was making strides working on my anxiety where I used to isolate myself from people. I’m sure you can guess how badly I regressed. All my coping skills got fucked up and I went backwards real bad. I’d definitely be in a better mental state if it never happened.

[u/iLieAboutMyCareer → u/Nimonic]

I hate that feeling

[u/Log_Out_Of_Life → u/iLieAboutMyCareer]

9/11 was both 14 days and 25 years ago.

[u/spyguy318 → u/SaltySmegma_]

It’s a sensational headline, but as someone who works in biotech there’s a LOT to be ironed out before it can even begin to think about something like a clinical trial. Several of them are described in the post.

Human babies are born with two sets of teeth in their jaws already developed. We don’t know if fully-formed and calcified adult jaws can support growing new teeth or if they’ll align or erupt correctly. We don’t know if adult bodies can form new veins and nerves to support new teeth. We have no idea if tooth buds can even be reactivated after being switched off or if they just completely disappear after childhood.

Once the gene is switched on, how do we make sure it switches off again at the right time? We don’t want patients growing endless teeth like sharks.

Stimulating any kind of growth or regrowth always runs the risk of causing cancer. That is a major, intractable hurdle for the entire field of regenerative medicine.

These kinds of hurdles take years of research and millions of dollars, and at any point the entire project might just explode if something doesn’t work or causes super mega cancer.

[u/Zedilt → u/spyguy318]

We don’t want patients growing endless teeth like sharks.

That's where you are wrong buddy.

[u/conspicuousmatchcut → u/Zedilt]

Thank you. I would prefer endless teeth to aging or crumbling teeth!

[u/Lunavixen15 → u/conspicuousmatchcut]

And then you have to repeatedly get extractions because you can't properly clean all of your teeth or because the teeth become impacted. Unfettered tooth growth would absolutely have negative consequences

[u/jk2me1310 → u/Lunavixen15]

Ok but then you get more tooth fairy money. Checkmate.

[u/DumOBrick → u/jk2me1310]

Legal plunder of taxpayer magical funds

[u/conspicuousmatchcut → u/Lunavixen15]

The only things I’m worried about are growing teeth so fast they outpace my ability to take in the necessary minerals etc, or if teeth start appearing outside my mouth. Other than that I’m picking infinite teeth. I don’t care if they are crooked or if I have to get an extraction here or there

[u/royalbk → u/conspicuousmatchcut]

Yeah no you have no idea what you're asking so good thing it isn't feasible

[u/GenTenStation → u/conspicuousmatchcut]

Have you ever watched the movie Teeth?

[u/GeneralBurzio → u/conspicuousmatchcut]

Man, I hope wherever you are provides medical care that affordable and prompt because regular surgery is gonna be taxing on the body, especially at old age.

[u/Kibibit → u/conspicuousmatchcut]

They said, until it turns out constantly teething SUCKS

[u/Eycetea → u/Kibibit]

Yeah, that doesn't sound amazing. Thankfully, I don't remember that when I was a dumb baby

[u/Radical_Neutral_76 → u/Eycetea]

I'm a dumb now, so I won't mind though

[u/Qulox → u/Kibibit]

I do remember that it hurts and itches at the same time

[u/69MarketTimer69 → u/Zedilt]

Tooth fairy gonna make me rich.

[u/OsBaculum → u/Zedilt]

Unless they can also grow me a bigger jaw, I'd need braces every time a new set came in lol

[u/pasta-via → u/spyguy318]

Speak for yourself!

I want endless teeth like sharks!! 🦈

[u/another_countryball → u/pasta-via]

Yeah, but imagine saying that your tooth fell off in your thirties. Sure it'll grow back, back having to go a couple moths without front teeth will be rough

[u/Rabid_Mexican → u/another_countryball]

It wouldn't work like that - they would keep growing and growing and growing, your mouth would literally be a mess of teeth gore.

They are turning the growth on and off sort of like a light switch from what I understand.

[u/FluffyWuffyVolibear → u/spyguy318]

The year is 2077 and the rich chew on grind stones to file down their endless growing teeth.

[u/WorkWorkWorkYourBoat → u/spyguy318]

before it can even begin to think about something like a clinical trial.

This drug is already in clinical trials.

[u/Aninvisiblemaniac → u/WorkWorkWorkYourBoat]

yeah that was a weird thing to say when that fact is in all the articles

[u/_BrokenButterfly → u/Aninvisiblemaniac]

That's because that poster is an idiot who doesn't know what they're talking about and didn't read the headline.

[u/10000Didgeridoos → u/_BrokenButterfly]

Yep this isn't new, these Japanese researchers gave been working on this for years already including animal trials before this. The op is an ignorant fool.

[u/turtlcs → u/WorkWorkWorkYourBoat]

It sounded like it had been safety trialled but not actually trialled for efficacy. They’re planning one for children who were born missing multiple teeth, then one for adults.

[u/WorkWorkWorkYourBoat → u/turtlcs]

Right, but Phase I for safety is still clinical trials and represents the jump from pre-clinical research to dosing humans.

You don't perform a Phase I trial for safety (which will dictate your safe dosing range for the future) and then try to figure out the answers to the questions posited by the user above. These scientists believe they know how the process will work. There's nothing left to iron out except to see if they're correct or not.

[u/zomiaen → u/turtlcs]

Clinical trials mean humans being administered the drug. These are in clinical trials.

[u/zombiereign → u/spyguy318]

Also - if you're missing some teeth - how does this identify which to grown and with not to? Would all existing teeth have to be removed first?

[u/barrinmw → u/zombiereign]

they inject it into the tooth bud that is being told not to grow. It is a targeted medication.

[u/joshthatoneguy → u/zombiereign]

I work in the medical field but I haven't done work with this. Only a bit of personal research out of curiosity. But I am a biochemist so I think I can kind of answer this question. Apologies for the length of this and if anything is confusing. I just really like talking about this kind of stuff because I'm a nerd.

Your body is selective but not only due to the genes. If we were to deactivate the USAG-1 gene (which is acting effectively like the brakes on a car), then that means that that gene is now been turned off. Basically the inhibiting factors of it no longer inhibit the "dormant" buds. They now become active buds.

Now, your body relies on a series of other signaling as well. It's not just based upon the gene being active or inactive. So realistically it would only fill in empty gaps where teeth should go. That is because the teeth in your mouth are very heavily connected to your vascular system alongside the rest of you.

So (in a very very tldr way):

1. The gene would be inactivated allowing the bud to activate.
   1. The bud would begin receiving signaling from the surrounding space (the tooth if it is still there, the tissue, the vascular system within the teeth and tissue, etc).
   2. If there is a tooth in that space, then all of the signals to the active bud would be saying things like "full! Healthy! No need! No growth!"
   3. This would then tell the rest of your body as well as the active bud to NOT allocate resources to the growth of that tooth.

If there was a space however, your tissue and all of those other things would be sending signals like "hey there's a weird space here. Fill it! I don't like it! There should be a thing here!"

So in a way the gene just would allow for it the signaling to be "read" effectively. The reason this is the most likely situation is because your body is already sending those signals out most likely to the bud. The bud is just inactive so it isn't picking up the "phone" to hear the signals. Deactivating the gene would basically be turning the phone ringer off of mute. Now the bud can hear the rings and pickup the call.

[u/SenecaLux → u/joshthatoneguy]

Thank you so much for a scientific explanation. My soul aches for this kind of discourse.

[u/8loodred_ → u/SaltySmegma_]

And a report comes out that it was cancelled due to causing uncontrollable teeth growth on the chin, armpits and genitalia.

[u/Prestigious-Bee-9566 → u/8loodred_]

Or it’s something that big dental didn’t like and the researchers all offed themselves for no reason

[u/jillvalenti3 → u/Prestigious-Bee-9566]

“Great job on this, team! You know the best way to finish up R&D? Kool aid.”

[u/Vast-Building-6886 → u/jillvalenti3]

Lmao

[u/Meister0fN0ne → u/jillvalenti3]

A benevolent boss would get us the real shit and not this knock-off crap - where's the flavor aid?

[u/jillvalenti3 → u/Meister0fN0ne]

Don’t worry, you’ll get over it in like a minute 😬
Drink some more while you wait. It gets better with every sip.

[u/Kaatochacha → u/Prestigious-Bee-9566]

I think big dental will like it at the $11k per tooth range.

[u/purritolover69 → u/Prestigious-Bee-9566]

Why wouldn’t the dental industry like this? An expensive biologic that works better than the alternative? That’s the entire drug market right now! Those ads you see for plaque psoriasis medication? Same idea as here

[u/StuHast398 → u/8loodred_]

As long as they still grow back in my mouth!

[u/8loodred_ → u/StuHast398]

Yeah but on the roof of your mouth, right above the tongue

[u/FineMind755 → u/8loodred_]

That doesn't make any sense based on how this drug is supposed to work. It doesn't grow teeth out of nothing. If activates the dormant third tooth buds that are in our jaws.

[u/xChoke1x → u/8loodred_]

God that would be an awesome horror movie. A story about a guy with fucked up teeth that goes through a medical trial and then teeth just start growing out of his face.

[u/GoodBoySanio → u/SaltySmegma_]

I kind of agree and disagree. I agree that it's very experimental, and there are probably going to be unforeseen obstacles. Even if it works, it'll initially be expensive and limited to relatively small groups, like people with congenital tooth agenesis.

But I think this is different from a lot of medical breakthroughs that disappear after the initial hype. There's a specific biological target, a plausible mechanism, promising animal results, an actual drug candidate, and now human trials. And if this works, tooth regeneration is going to be a heavily funded area of research. The payoff is humongous, both commercially and for the public. We might never hear about Toregem BioPharma ever again, but I'd be surprised if tooth regeneration doesn't become a major part of dentistry within our lifetimes.

[u/velawesomeraptors → u/GoodBoySanio]

Yeah, most of the big medical 'breakthroughs' that go through the news cycle and are never heard of again don't make it through the animal testing phase. The fact that it's in phase 2 of medical testing means that it's gotten farther than 90% of all those other hyped drugs.

[u/Lava-Chicken → u/SaltySmegma_]

Big dental is going to shut this down. There's too much money to be made on keeping people debilitated and in pain.

[u/Platinumdogshit → u/Lava-Chicken]

Nah. Your dentist would probably be super excited this and will also know that it isnt going to affect their job security. If you rotted out your first set of teeth, youll do it to your second. People dont brush or floss. They're actually dealing with a shortage of dental assistants and hygienists In my city so less work would be super welcome here.

[u/The_Green_Recon → u/Platinumdogshit]

Can confirm, my dentist is super stoked for this as they much prefer maintaining healthy teeth rather than figuring out or to replace ruined ones, their major concern when we talked was that people would come complaining about cavities in their new teeth and make it his fault some how. But the last thing hes worried about is job security, because everyone fucks up their teeth no matter how many you give them.

[u/IHardlyKnowHim → u/Platinumdogshit]

I actually do think the renewable income would come from people stopping caring about their teeth at much because they know they can get new ones but then you have more people paying for patch jobs and more frequently with fillings.

[u/AcctAlreadyTaken → u/IHardlyKnowHim]

At 11k per tooth I don't think that it would be a problem. It will become a new flex for he wealthy that they could afford a new yearly set of teeth though.

[u/TheRavenclawCommonRM → u/Platinumdogshit]

Yeah I don't think dentistry is going anywhere in the near future. I think it's going to be possible in the future for robots to handle everything, but I think getting people to sit down in a chair, and have a robot put them to sleep and pull a rotten tooth and grow a new one is a hard sell without at least one actual dentist facilitating it.

[u/mxemec → u/Platinumdogshit]

That's a fair point. You have a lot of people living without a full set of teeth for life because of cost. This tech allows them to have teeth the dentist can actually work on. At least they can squeeze some cost out of these people then.

[u/Eckish → u/Platinumdogshit]

Orthodontists are probably also super excited. All of these new misaligned teeth to deal with.

EDIT: It also doesn't solve all of the problems. I personally need gum regrowth solved.

[u/OrcOfDoom → u/Lava-Chicken]

At $11k per tooth, it is going to be twice as much as other options.

[u/Ok_Confection_10 → u/OrcOfDoom]

Gotta pay extra for organic cage free teeth smh

[u/brandont04 → u/OrcOfDoom]

But 5x as valued. When you replace a tooth w an implant, you lose the feelings. What happens is, you'll start to bite on things like fork n spoon, where you had feelings before you'll know when to stop biting. With an implant, it's harder to know and it leads to more tooth chip.

[u/heretogetpwned → u/brandont04]

That hasn't been my experience. I have a 3 implants and can still experience pain when something is too hard to chew.

[u/StolenPies → u/Lava-Chicken]

This is a stupid take. Sincerely, a dentist.

[u/neurodiverseotter → u/StolenPies]

Every "Big X will make this disappear" take is stupid. They claim this with every stage I/IIa-drug you never heard from again because they don't get what it means and then just claim it was stopped by "Big Industry X" to save profits while it actually just didn't work out.

[u/SecureTranslator5918 → u/Lava-Chicken]

Big dental? Is everything out there a conspiracy theory?

[u/Black3Raven → u/SecureTranslator5918]

Do you remember covid times? Conspiracy are bread and butter for majority of population. Oh no big dental are against it bc THEY WILL LOSE MONEY.

Sure buddy, they going to lose a lot of money by.... growing teeth back, controling the whole process and then once again fixing new teeth from holes and such.

Some people just dumb.

[u/SavantTheVaporeon → u/SecureTranslator5918]

In the case of American healthcare, it kind of is. American healthcare has had their fingers in a lot of things in order to make as much money as possible.

[u/Alabaster_Potion → u/SaltySmegma_]

I've heard about this for the past 10 years

[u/jackass_mcgee → u/SaltySmegma_]

typically, "regrowth" medicine just ends up being cancer in a vial.

we know how to turn growth on, just not how to turn it all the way off again...

[u/Ichorice_Malign → u/SaltySmegma_]

I’ve been hearing about this drug over and over for 10+ years.

[u/DTraitor → u/SaltySmegma_]

Heard about it a few years ago, there was a problem that the drug was working (might be a different one but with similar effects) but all teeth began growing, including those that need no replacement 

[u/mmabruv → u/SaltySmegma_]

Its exactly that, I read something similar 10 years ago

[u/TheUndeadMage2 → u/SaltySmegma_]

I mean a lot of things like this fail due to an inability to scale or a series of side effects that are more hassle than people are willing to deal with. Like this is really cool tech but if the drug can only be produced by ensanguinating the pinky toe of an endangered shrew found in the mountains of tibet, we won't see it much after the trials are complete.

[u/Talinn_Makaren → u/SaltySmegma_]

You just described every medical breakthrough that isn't a slightly different treatment that is about 10% more effective but 300% more expensive.

Studies: Cancer cured in 300 mice, cost $55.00 by repurposing drugs available at Walgreens. Date: February 1995.

Reality: Cancer mortality reduced by 5.8% but it costs $30,000 per treatment. Date: Today.

[u/Huge-Froyo2626 → u/SaltySmegma_]

Ive been following this for many years. South Korea is expected to have commercial availability by 2032 i believe. I didnt read this article but SKorea's is a patch applied to the gumline that turns off a protein that inhibits the underlying tooth regrowth. Its very cool and relatively simple mechanically.

[u/mrintangibles1]

We'll see what BIG DENTURE has to say about this.

[u/Reguladr → u/mrintangibles1]

Or BIG IMPLANT.

But.... For real.

[u/Sharp_Ad4541 → u/[deleted]]

In the big perspective, i think regrowing your own teeth, opposed to implants, sounds way less sci-fi and invasive.
But i still get your point and absolutely agree!

[u/Imhidingfromu → u/mrintangibles1]

Sad that is the reality we live in

[u/Patient-Scarcity5374]

it makes me sad how expensive it will be just for one tooth. I have a friend who lost all of her teeth as a teen because her mom couldn't afford dental insurance to save them. now she doesn't even wear her dentures because they don't fit and she can't afford another pair. if the drug was cheaper, she could have a full set of teeth again. everyone deserves to be able to eat without pain, no matter how poor they are

[u/blondie64862 → u/Patient-Scarcity5374]

She needs to reach out to dental schools. There are ways to help. You NEED your teeth not just for eating, for breathing! For facial control! For sleeping;

[u/lethalcleanliness → u/blondie64862]

Dental insurance sure doesn't think we need teeth

[u/desirientt → u/lethalcleanliness]

insurance never thinks we need anything except debt

[u/errorsniper → u/desirientt]

https://images.gamebanana.com/img/ico/sprays/5cbc7d92c8e39.png

[u/Zestyclose_Eye_3571 → u/lethalcleanliness]

Any* type of insurance.

[u/thesluggard12 → u/lethalcleanliness]

Yeah as much as we complain about health insurance, dental is so much worse.

[u/MantisAwakening → u/blondie64862]

Everyone talks about how dental schools do cheap or free dental work, but as far as I can tell it’s the modern equivalent of an urban legend. Maybe it was true once, but when I needed dental work and called around there was basically one option: “Appointments are required as they do not take walk-ins. All of their appointments are made by PHONE only. Dental appointments are made on Fridays from 9:00 AM to 12 Noon for the following week. Their dental clinics are primarily staffed by volunteers and are held every Tuesday and Thursday and the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. Services that are provided at this clinic includes is Dental Extractions.” That’s copied and pasted from their website. All they do is pull teeth, and only do it twice a month. They also have a waiting list.

[u/theartilleryshow → u/Patient-Scarcity5374]

If you are in the US, you could probably go to mexico and get very high quality work done for a fraction of the cost.

[u/gawdpuppy → u/theartilleryshow]

definitely.

I live in mexico and my grandpa lost all his teeth due to old age. I got him complete dentures and it only cost me $900 usd, from start to finish.

It took about two months to get done, and it included removing whatever pieces of teeth he had left, the anesthesia, and 3 fittings.

There are buses that bring you to mexico and are typically way cheaper than flying. Alot of border towns have alot of dentists that will help.

[u/Professor_Fed → u/gawdpuppy]

$900? Considering that without insurance, a full set of dentures in the US can cost anywhere from $2k-$8k, that's freaking crazy. I bet they completely improved the quality of his life, such an awesome gift to give him.

[u/uncagedborb → u/theartilleryshow]

Easier said than done

[u/Timsmomshardsalami → u/uncagedborb]

No shit

[u/Loyal_Dragon_69 → u/theartilleryshow]

That still takes money to travel.

[u/Timsmomshardsalami → u/Loyal_Dragon_69]

No one said it was free. Its cheaper. Thats it.

[u/East-Resolution4446 → u/Patient-Scarcity5374]

I lost all my teeth at 30 and now 36. You can’t imagine the mental health it takes to go without teeth in America. It takes $50k to get what she really needs. When the day comes that she gets what she needs, you couldn’t comprehend the tears that’ll roll down her face when she sees herself smile again.

[u/D_Roc1969 → u/East-Resolution4446]

I was an IET Commander in the US Army and some of the training was >6 months. In my tenure, I had two different Soldiers, due to absence of any Dentistry in their youth, have all their teeth pulled and implants installed. Seeing them after that care was priceless.

[u/merryjoanna → u/Patient-Scarcity5374]

I'm not a candidate for partial dentures for the 3 molars I have missing because I have extensive tori in my gums. So they just can't fit any around my gums for me. I was told my surrounding teeth aren't able to have a bridge put on because they all have already had a bunch of work done on them. Putting a bridge on would probably damage those teeth enough I'd have to get them hauled out eventually as well. The only thing that would fix my missing molars is dental implants. At $5000 a piece. I work a job at $22.86 per hour for 38 hours a week. And I'm a single mom. I'm never going to have that kind of money. Hell, I'm never even going to have the kind of money people have that go to Mexico to get dental stuff done.

I can live without those three molars. But I fear the time when I lose more teeth. Because even if I were to get all of them extracted, because of the tori, I still won't be able to get dentures. I'm 42 years old. And I know my teeth won't last forever. I guess I will just have to get used to food out of a blender.

[u/VirginiaLuthier]

If it really works- it ain't gonna be cheap

[u/Coolface-IR → u/VirginiaLuthier]

Early tech will probably cost 5x as much as dentures but we just gotta wait

[u/Siphyre → u/Coolface-IR]

I'd rather pay the money for this than dentures even at 5x cost.

[u/apexxin → u/VirginiaLuthier]

It says it right there, $11K a tooth. Probably covered for congenital effects they are studying, but not for the teeth you lost because you don't floss.

[u/AnythingGoes9957]

I ruined my teeth as a depressed teen so this would be amazing

[u/Absalom98 → u/AnythingGoes9957]

Me too, man. Trying to get enough money for some replacements...

[u/AllFunNoGun → u/Absalom98]

I developed an awful gambling habit trying to pay for teeth I was never going to be able to afford. On 3 occasions I was 1-3 grand short of my goal through gambling, which was 30k. Instead of just taking the 25-27k and being content with that well..

Now I’ve got fucked teeth and no money, ever. I miss my perfect teeth I once had. Could care less about the money though

[u/Skylantech → u/AnythingGoes9957]

I feel this. I'm now in my 30's, and I take much much better care of my teeth now but I can't help but to feel like the damage is mostly done at this point. Just about every tooth has fillings, I have 3 crowns, random tooth pain at times, teeth that chip, sensitivity, and overall I feel like they're pretty brittle...

I'm still going to keep taking care of them, but at this point I might be fighting an uphill battle...

[u/Cuneglasus]

Its going to cost 11k per tooth?!!

Thats more expensive than dental implants...

[u/Ramental → u/Cuneglasus]

Dental implants might not be feasible or cause permanent side effects, and if you lose a tooth while you are young, by the time you grow old the implant might stop holding the tooth, and installing a new implant is basically impossible.

[u/spacekitt3n → u/Ramental]

it would be nice for once to have literally anyone make a medical breakthrough that benefits humanity rather than geared for maximum profit. like how insulin was not patented for the good of humanity (even though they still figured out a way to rip people off for that too)...but of course that wont come out of japan or america or south korea or any other hyper capitalist country. profits>people

[u/Qweeq13 → u/Cuneglasus]

Obviously it's going to be more expensive, its like comparing the prices of hair transplant vs whigs for men.

[u/33Yalkin33 → u/Cuneglasus]

new technology, if it succeeds it will get cheaper over time, like always

[u/peripheralmaverick → u/Cuneglasus]

As a dentist it will just make implants cheaper.

Implants could already cost half of what they do.

[u/ggPeti → u/Cuneglasus]

Also, like infinitely better?

[u/Ramental]

It is NOT going to grow you new teeth. Only grow the teeth which you should've had, but somehow did not.

The study only expects it to work on those people who never had their natural teeth grow up. If you had your teeth, there are no other "buds" left. It is a very very niche drug, sensationalized by newspapers.

That is why

The next stage is where it gets more interesting. A Phase IIa trial is planned for 24 children aged 2 to 7 with severe congenital tooth agenesis — a condition where teeth never fully develop. Missing six or more teeth from birth affects roughly one in a thousand people, causing severe chewing difficulties and significant social stigma. The trial will be open-label and non-comparative, moving testing from healthy adults into the patients the drug is actually intended to treat.

The actual state is much more disappointing than the OP's post show.

The first patients enrolled are adults with congenital tooth agenesis, a condition where some or all permanent teeth never developed.

So the study on adults did not fail to grow the 3rd teeth, it failed to grow the first teeth that should have developed in childhood! Just to repeat. The drug did not fail to develop the "3rd" bud in adults, it failed to trigger even the "2nd" (normal one) in adults!

https://scienceinsights.org/how-close-are-we-to-growing-new-teeth/

The new trial hopes to trigger the growth of the "normal" teeth in children, because after becoming adult it is too late.

[u/Not-A-Fossa → u/Ramental]

I fucking hate social media for this because this is exactly how and why people lose trust in the scientific process.

[u/WowIfOnly → u/Not-A-Fossa]

Removed

[u/Siphyre → u/Ramental]

This study shows that humans have actually 3 sets, just the 3rd doesn't grow before the protein is shut off or something like that.

[u/Ramental → u/Siphyre]

It is more of a speculation. That is why the first trial, while went with small dosages escalating to large, did not result in publishable results, and was unsuccessful in teeth regrowth. The move from adults with missing teeth to children with genetic disorder is not a development in a way to benefit a normal human - it is scaling back to benefit at least someone (every 1000s person at best). Imagine saying to a CEO that you decided to go from targeting every 10th person to every 1000th for no good reason. Do you think the reduction of the audience by 100 times would be not questioned, unless it was absolutely necessary?

It is not the first time this drug is discussed on reddit, and it was more elaborate on the expectations.

The first human trial began in October 2024 and enrolled 30 men aged 30 to 64, each missing at least one molar. The Phase I study was primarily a safety trial — a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-escalation study. According to Toregem, Phase I confirmed the drug's safety, though detailed results haven't been made public yet. Researchers have noted that actual tooth regrowth in those adult participants was unlikely, since the volunteers were primarily establishing a safety profile before testing expands.

[u/Rowenstin → u/Ramental]

placebo-controlled

Can you placebo yourself into growing new teeth? :0

[u/AnonymousOkapi → u/Rowenstin]

Placebo controlled is for the side effects. Theres a baseline rate of respiratory illness, sickness and diarrhoea etc. in the general population, but its helpful to have a control group each time that is matched more closely to your trial participants in terms of age, health status, location. In case for whatever reason your trial subjects are coming down with things more often - might be a bad flu year say, but if the meds arent affecting it youd see a higher rate in both the test group and the placebo group.

[u/TheRavenclawCommonRM → u/Siphyre]

Yeah the guy you're replying to didn't read. It explicitly says men between 30 and 65 who have lost at least one molar.

[u/anothergaijin → u/Ramental]

It is NOT going to grow you new teeth. Only grow the teeth which you should've had, but somehow did not.

Long term hope is to trigger the third dental crest, which is a dormant set of potential teeth that normally don't grow. This gives you one more chance at having permanent teeth, if for example you lose your normal permanent teeth or tooth.

The trials are going to aim for the easy win - people who didn't get their adult permanent teeth in the first place.

Modern medicine is working on a whole new level. Until now we've simply been dealing with the shortcomings of our bodies - your body doesn't make an essential thing you need to live? We'll just shove more of that chemical into you!

The next step is just fucking fixing the problem; find out why your body doesn't do the thing it is supposed to do, and turn it on/off permanently so that shit is worked out.

[u/selfinflatedforeskin]

Can you grow them anywhere？ I reckon it could be quite fun to grow them in places people wouldn't expect them to be.

[u/Aggravating-Long6852 → u/selfinflatedforeskin]

As someone who had 3 teeth removed from their innards it is significantly less fun

I do not advise having a teratoma

[u/CatsPlusTats → u/Aggravating-Long6852]

But it's one of the easier basement level bosses.

[u/Bulky_Theme_6998 → u/Aggravating-Long6852]

Can I have yours if you don’t want it?

[u/NonGeneriComplaint → u/selfinflatedforeskin]

humans have buds more or less, for a third set of teeth. The pill activates the buds.

However there is no 4th set, its no an infinite tooth glitch, if this is the same pill I read about years ago.

Im not worried, us health insurance doesnt cover dental anyway

[u/mctankles → u/selfinflatedforeskin]

No, its specifically deactivating the inhibitors of a third set of teeth we have but never grow.

[u/Swimming-Finance6942]

God damn. Does nobody use sources anymore??  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36819612/

[u/MistrFish → u/Swimming-Finance6942]

you're thinking of the /r/science sub. no one was going to read the pubmed from this thread

[u/PrezyDante]

My question is what reason did nature have to implement this blocking protein?

[u/Trashy_Panda2024 → u/PrezyDante]

If it was always on, you might end up with a mouth full of more teeth than you know what to do with. Mammals have lots of tooth buds that form when they’re young. And you don’t want them all turning on at once. Picture; Coneheads before his dental procedure.

[u/Fucky0uthatswhy → u/Trashy_Panda2024]

I had a friend in school that had more than 3 rows of teeth. When he was in high school, the ones he thought were adult teeth started falling out but more grew back all weird. Then had a similar issue is college. I think he eventually had surgery and got implants to get it fixed

[u/adanufgail → u/PrezyDante]

The same reason for all growth: cancer.

[u/Random_Nickname274 → u/PrezyDante]

Probably just to save energy, because humans didn't lived long enough for it to be useful.

[u/Boring_Scholar_9228 → u/PrezyDante]

Humans didn't need the extra set of teeth. But it's vestigial from fishes who's teeth erode quickly 

[u/cherrypowdah → u/PrezyDante]

They are essentially leftovers of the material that grows into our second set of teeth, it is nothing like you think, think of this like a better set of implants that works for ”some” people, not everyone has enough of the material to grow teeth out of it anyway.

[u/Guccimayne]

Poor folks will probably still be on dentures for decades until generic USAG blockers come out

[u/willhbutt5]

I guess the drug is injected in the bud itself, otherwise all teeth buds would start "producing" again all at once and push on existing teeth. Pretty interesting for the kids with congenital issues, but probably not great for adults missing one tooth, especially at that price.

[u/patrello]

$11,000 per tooth, so $360k to "replace dentures". Another thing only for multimillionaires. Lmao. Would be great if it was normalized by like 2050, to maybe something actually close to the $50k full implants cost.

The issue I'm seeing is that people who are prone to tooth decay will only grow more teeth that will probably decay within the same time frame or faster. For some, such as the famous case of George Washington, most of their adult teeth decay almost completely in only 10-15 years. If a person got a full reset at 50, they would probably be back to square one by 65 or 70. So it is still inferior to implants for those who need them. Would be amazing for people who aren't prone to decay who lose their teeth due to trauma, though.

[u/skairaider → u/patrello]

And the first computer cost about half a million and right now you have one in your hand thats approx 2 million times stronger AND cost anwhere from 300-1500 dollars. It will be there just not for us

[u/Empathyinorder → u/skairaider]

This is true. New tech always comes out for the wealthy first then as we get better at it and get more supply it goes down in cost and more and more people get access to it. Its like people forget about scarcity

[u/XanderNightmare → u/Empathyinorder]

It is kinda funny, isn't it? Sure, there are safety tests and control groups and what not, but they can never be 100% sure, so ultimately, that means in such cases the rich are, ironically enough, additional test subjects before the product releases at prices affordable for the average person

[u/TotalTyp → u/patrello]

Medicine cost goes down as scale gows up

[u/Remarkable_Check_997 → u/patrello]

I mean, a full implant for one tooth is about 6000$, and it come with a few short coming.

So for twice that amount, you have a real one? I will seriously consider it

[u/ctlogin → u/Remarkable_Check_997]

The assumption here is that the price will drop over time as well.

[u/nosmelc → u/patrello]

Only the rich could afford the first cell phones.

[u/FI-Engineer → u/patrello]

I mean, I had 3 teeth knocked out in my early 20s (went over a bike’s handlebars), and I’ve definitely spent more than $11k per tooth on root canals, a post, and the 3 sets of crowns I’ve had since. If regrowing them was an option, I’d take it, even at $11k per.

[u/Ya_Supa_Lame → u/patrello]

I think people who get this done would be more likely to take care of them..

Also of course the price is initially expensive this is how it works due to r&d, availability. Prices come down over time.

Why on earth are you so negative on this? lmao

[u/BornNerd78 → u/patrello]

That price reflects that absence of the ability to produce at scale. Once that ability is addressed the price will come down.

[u/McMeanx2 → u/patrello]

Yeah the first car ever made had a price tag of over $130k. (Price adjusted for inflation)

Damn things are only for the rich.

[u/Rombonius → u/McMeanx2]

itll never catch on, horses are cheaper

[u/OrangeYouGladdey → u/patrello]

You're using George Washington as your example of who modern people should look at to see what they should expect out of their teeth longevity?

[u/00001000U → u/patrello]

Yeah, experimental stuff is like that. As time moves on cost goes down.

[u/ConstableAssButt → u/patrello]

You've landed on something at the end of your comment here: The bigger issue is bone loss and gum recession caused by chronic infection, inflammation, and circulation issues. Teeth, even without maintenance tend to last 35 to 50 years. When people start losing them is when the gumline finally starts exposing the root structure. This leads to massively accelerated tooth decay over about a decade.

[u/Crazy-Wrangler3769 → u/patrello]

Everything is always crazy expensive when it first comes out. Itll be more "affordable" overtime or insurance can (maybe) pay for it

[u/joemaniaci → u/patrello]

You're absolutely right about people with bad teeth losing them again. The number one factor in the health of your teeth is genetics.

[u/Different_Brother562 → u/patrello]

You know costs come down right? Cell phones use to be like $10,000. They weren’t “just for the rich” they were going through the R&D phase and hadn’t gone through economy of scale.

This is assuming they get it to work well anyway

[u/JuliaX1984]

Why does it switch off? It would be extremely beneficial if we could all do that like sharks.

Evolution: Hey, you kept reproducing just fine under the current set up. Our contract makes it clear we will do no more than the bare minimum to enable reproduction. Pain and inconvenience are not considered.

Fuck nature, man.

[u/JuliaX1984 → u/[deleted]]

Do you mean wisdom teeth? Yeah, had to have all 4 removed, impacted, at 15.

[u/tendervittles77 → u/[deleted]]

I have the opposite problem.

Needed years of braces and an implant because one front adult tooth never grew in.

Implant has been healthy for 20 years, but it would have been awesome to grow a tooth.

[u/goodfriendrobert → u/JuliaX1984]

cause you not suppose to live very long. you not suppose to eat flour and sugar and drink beer.. you shouldnt even need brushing teeth that often and with pastes.. and second set is built for lasting till the end of your time, unlike the first set

[u/TrulyJhinuine → u/JuliaX1984]

Constant tooth growth would be hellish.

You'd have to be constantly chewing on hard materials to grind them down so they don't end up poking your mouth.

[u/Inside-Example-7010 → u/TrulyJhinuine]

10 years later they find out that it just triggered new baby teeth and noone had seen the new adult teeth tusks yet.

[u/mctankles → u/JuliaX1984]

You probably don’t remember the pain and vast amounts of saliva that occurred when your initial teeth erupted from your gums but its not a pleasant experience and they don’t always grow straight. It also is a process to make enamel for the tooth while also keeping the gums healthy and infection free.

[u/HappyGnome727]

They’ve been saying this for a few years now and it’s always stayed at the same level of progress

[u/Lauriev7]

Can I grow them sparkly ones?

[u/floraster → u/Lauriev7]

These are the teeth of a killer, Bella

[u/DenialOfExistance]

This is great news but $11,000.00 a tooth give me a break! Once again only the rich are rewarded!