--- title: "Scientists About to Test Medicine to Grow New Teeth" description: "Japanese scientists are set to kick off the world's first clinical trials of \"tooth regrowth medicine\" at the Kyoto University Hospital." date: "2024-05-06" modified: "2024-05-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-test-medicine-grow-new-teeth" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "RX and Medicine" tags: - "antibody treatment" - "teeth" - "tooth" --- # Scientists About to Test Medicine to Grow New Teeth ![Japanese scientists are set to kick off the world's first clinical trials of "tooth regrowth medicine" at the Kyoto University Hospital.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Japanese scientists are set to kick off the world's first clinical trials of "tooth regrowth medicine" at the Kyoto University Hospital, [*The Mainichi* reports](). Researchers from the Japanese startup Toregem Biopharma are planning to enroll patients who were born missing some or all of their teeth from birth, a condition called congenital anodontia, for the trials. The patients will receive an antibody treatment that deactivates a protein called USAG-1, believed to stop "tooth buds," which most people have, from developing into either baby or permanent teeth. People with the condition conventionally resort to getting implants or dentures. However, Toregem's treatment could provide them with a "third option," as co-founder Katsu Takahashi explained in a statement, as [quoted by *Nikkei Asia*](). The team is hoping to treat not only those who haven't been able to grow teeth from birth, but eventually also those who are simply missing teeth due to cavities as well. A Phase 1 of the trial in September, which is designed to ensure that the treatment is safe, will involve 30 healthy male adult participants who are missing at least one back tooth. Phase 2 is tentatively scheduled for next year and will involve patients aged two to seven with congenital anodontia who are missing at least four teeth from birth. The team has already successfully tested the treatment in animals with no observed side effects. In 2018, the team tested the drug on ferrets, which have similar tooth buds to humans, and found that new teeth grew successfully. "The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist's dream," Takahashi [told Japanese newspaper *The Mainichi*]() last year. "I've been working on this since I was a graduate student." **More on regrowing teeth:** *[Japanese Company Testing Drug to Regrow Teeth in Humans]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()