“Our
treatment modality does not introduce anything new to the body, and lasers are
routinely used in medicine and dentistry, so the barriers to clinical
translation are low. It would be a substantial advance in the field if we can
regenerate Teeth rather than replace them.”
Dr. David Mooney of
Harvard University's Wyss Institute commenting on their development of Laser/Stem
Cell Therapy to Re-grow Dentine in Rats and possibly Humans
This
is a big deal for Dentistry folks on a level similar to the Scottish National
Blood Transfusion Service developing artificial Type O Negative Blood from Stem
Cells as announced in April 2014 in my blog article
entitled “Scottish
National Blood Transfusion Service develops artificial Type O Negative Blood - Stem
Cell Cloning of Type O Negative Blood for Cheaper Transfusions in 2016”.
What
this means is that a specific method has been discovered to coax Stem Cells in Teeth
to differentiate into Dentine Cells, enabling Dentists to re-grow Teeth damaged
by Tooth Decay. In other words, if this method passes clinical trials in
humans, there will no longer be a need to fill or remove Teeth damaged by Tooth
Decay; you can use the Laser Therapy developed by Dr. David Mooney’s Team and
coax Stem Cells to re-grow themselves.
Previous
methods of doing this involve removing Stem Cells from Teeth, growing Teeth in
the lab from these Stem Cells and then transplanting them back into the tooth
that was suffering Tooth Decay in hopes that it would take root and grow back
into normal tooth. This was a complex procedure and takes awhile. It also
doesn’t work 100% of the time, making it risky to the patient and an unreliable
way of regenerating Teeth.
Interestingly,
Anecdotal evidence about light influencing Stem Cells to activate and grow has
always existed, but this was the first study to nail down the exact mechanism
by which light influences Stem Cells. Dr. David Mooney’s Team at Harvard
University's Wyss Institute will hopefully begin human trial soon as this Laser/Stem
Cell Therapy holds promise not only for Dentistry but also for jumpstarting Stem
Cell replication in other parts of the body.
If
this hold true for other types of Stem Cells such as in Bone Marrow or even
Blood Cells, it could open up a whole new field of Laser Therapy where Laser
Light can be used to jump start Stem Cells to produce and grow into the
surrounding Cells once a endoscope is used to introduce Laser light of the
right intensity and frequency inside of a body cavity.
Re-growing Rat’s Teeth
– Human Trials could be next to re-grow Teeth using Laser Light
So
how did they do it?
Dr.
David Mooney’s Team at Harvard University's Wyss Institute set up a Dentist
office and used Rat's to do their studies as described in the article “Scientists
Use Lasers To Re-grow Teeth From Stem Cells”, published May 29, 2014 by
Lisa Winter, I Fucking Love Science.
The
researchers then drilled holes in the Rat's little Teeth to simulate Tooth
Decay, most likely causing the Rats severe pain. Adult Stem Cells were then
injected into the Rat's Teeth and a low-power non-ionizing Laser was used to
stimulate the Stem Cells as per anecdotal accounts.
The
holes were then sealed up with traditional Fillings used in dentistry to keep
liquid out and the Rats were observed over a 12 week period. After this period
of time, X-Rays were then conducted that, surprisingly, confirmed that the Dentine
had indeed begun to grow back.
The
Researchers theorized that TGF-β1 (Transforming growth factor beta-1), a
protein that regulates Cell proliferation and differentiation caused the Dentine
to grow back. Differentiation is the process Stem Cells go through in order to
become a distinct type of Cell.
Apparently
the Laser stimulated ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) which then started a chain
reaction that eventually awoke the TGF-β1. Once TGF-β1 was in the active state,
it gave the Stem Cells the signal to start differentiating into Dentine Cells,
depending on the level of Laser Light received.
The
Team faced great difficulty in coming to their conclusions. First was that the Rat's
Teeth are very small, making their operations of drilling and filling the holes
with Stem Cells and then capping them difficult. Then there was the fact that
the Re-grown Dentine was slightly different from human Dentine, making it
difficult to identify the “Dentine Bridge” that covered the exposed pulp that
would have shown up in X-Rays of Regular Teeth.
Hopefully
Human Trials will be a lot easier. Interesting to see, too, if this Laser
Therapy method can be applied to all types of Stem Cells to make them
differentiate on a more consistent basis into Cells required in other parts of
the Human body.
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