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TOKYO -- A Japanese research team is making progress on the development of a groundbreaking medication that may allow people to grow new teeth, with c

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[-] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 21 points 2 years ago

Wow, what a game changer this would be for so many people. I wonder how accessible it will be to the people who are most likely to need it?

[-] livus@kbin.social 25 points 2 years ago

Most new things are not at all accessible to impoverished people (we saw this with covid vaccine inequality) and they are the ones most likely to have tooth loss due to lack of access to dental care.

[-] Ertebolle@kbin.social 13 points 2 years ago

This is true in the short term, but drugs and treatments can get cheaper over time, whereas implant dentistry is intrinsically expensive in a way that's unlikely to ever improve.

[-] anathema_device@kbin.social 16 points 2 years ago

@Ertebolle "The tooth regrowth medicine is intended for people who lack a full set of adult teeth due to congenital factors. "

So, not likely to solve the problem of tooth loss through lack of dental care :(

@wave_walnut @rhythmisaprancer @livus

[-] I_Miss_Daniel@kbin.social 9 points 2 years ago

Bugger. Back to printing disposable ones on the Ender-3?

[-] metaStatic@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago

they're only slightly toxic, you'll be fine

[-] I_Miss_Daniel@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

PLA, Google says it's food safe. I've never really thought about it.

[-] apemint@kbin.social 5 points 2 years ago

Both PLA and PET are food safe but I wouldn't use them for long-term food related stuff.
The surface of a print contains thousands of valleys, nooks and crannies and other hard to reach spots that serve as ideal breeding grounds for bacteria.

[-] I_Miss_Daniel@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

True. They may look smooth but they're pretty porous.

[-] yunggwailo@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago
[-] livus@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Thanks for copying me in, I really should have read the whole article first!

[-] Mr_Figtree@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

They do also talk about the potential to activate a latent third set of tooth buds in humans who have lost their adult teeth. They seem to have already done this in animals.

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this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2023
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