Lasers used to regenerate damaged teeth

Conclusion This laboratory study has shown that low-power laser therapy can direct dental stem cells to grow into one type of dental tissue, dentin. A strength of the study is that it used the dental pulp from molar teeth in rats, which are similar to humans, rather than their incisors, which are open-rooted and continue to grow for life to replace loss from gnawing.  Limitations highlighted by the authors include: the small sample size as a result of the limited availability of these particular rodents technical difficulties of growing minute rodent teeth widespread growth of dental tissue, which the authors think is because of the large area that was exposed to laser – they are hopeful that this can be improved with better technique and in larger animals and humans Other factors that will need to be taken into account are that although the authors wanted to create a way to stimulate the cells without the toxic effects of chemicals or transplant, there is still the potential for side effects from the laser therapy. It is not yet known if the laser therapy stimulates other unwanted cell production or whether it might damage other cells. Further research is required before this technique could progress to human trials, but it is a promising start. There is also the possibility that laser therapy could be used to stimulate the production of other specialised cells. Even if the research progresses well, it would probably be at least a decade before any ap...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Medical practice Genetics/stem cells Source Type: news