Lasers used to regenerate teeth, promising end to root-canal pain
Scientists have come up with a bright way to whiten the smile. They say their concept of using laser light to entice the body's own stem cells into action may offer enormous promise beyond dentistry in the field of regenerative medicine.
Scientists have come up with a bright way to whiten the smile.
The researchers used a low-power laser to coax dental stem cells to form dentin, the hard tissue similar to bone that makes up most of a tooth, demonstrating the process in studies involving rats and mice and using human cells in a laboratory.
They did not regenerate an entire tooth because the enamel part was too tricky, but getting dentin to grow could end root canal treatment, the painful procedure to remove dead or dying nerve tissue and bacteria from inside a tooth, they said.
"I'm a dentist by training. So I think it has potential for great impact in clinical dentistry," researcher Praveen Arany, a United States National Institutes of Health researcher said.
Arany expressed hope that human clinical trials could get approval in the near future.