Researchers in Japan Discover Medicine Capable of Regrowing Third Set of Teeth for Humans
Stan Goff in Dentistry Today, Apr 2025
“Researchers in Japan have been developing a medication that may allow people to grow new teeth, and they’re hopeful to have it ready for general use by 2030. This treatment focuses on a gene responsible for tooth growth and has begun in clinical trials.
Lead scientist Dr. Katsu Takahashi of the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, Japan, has been studying the genetic principles of tooth development for years, and the researchers’ latest findings follow up on a 2021 study (published in Scientific Reports) that showed how medicine targeting the protein synthesized by the USAG-1 gene could impact the number of teeth grown in animals. Dr. Takahashi and is team have now shifted their focus to humans. The scientists have announced a clinical trial of the medication and have set a goal of having it ready for general use in about five years, according to several reports.
“The idea of growing new teeth is every dentist’s dream. I’ve been working on this since I was a graduate student. I was confident I’d be able to make it happen,” Dr. Takahashi, head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital, told Japanese daily newspaper The Mainichi in 2023. “We’re hoping to see a time when tooth regrowth medicine is a third choice alongside dentures and implants.”
The researchers found that the USAG-1 protein could limit the growth of teeth in mice. Therefore, ensuring that the protein did not form could potentially invite teeth to grow, they concluded. The team developed a medication to block the protein and then successfully allowed mice to grow new teeth.
A 2023 paper published in Regenerative Therapy1 addresses the lack of treatments available for tooth regrowth, but the study suggests the anti-USAG-1 antibody treatment in mice could offer a “breakthrough” for humans. About 1 percent of humans suffer a genetic condition anodontia, that prevents a full set of teeth to grow. Researchers now believe there is hope for tooth regrowth in humans after the successful results with mice in the trials.
The scientists, noting that humans have a third set of teeth available as buds and ready to grow as needed, are even more encouraged about the possibilities…”
