Fresh Teeth From the Lab

By Constance Holden
ScienceNOW Daily News
20 February 2007

Denture wearers take heart. Scientists in Japan claim they have for the first time developed a reliable way to generate new mouse teeth in a Petri dish. Although any application to humans is years away, the team hopes the new approach could eventually lead to the regeneration of entire organs in the lab.

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Drug depot in a tooth

Posted by:Editor on Monday February 5th, 2007


The Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT in Germany have developed a dental prosthesis consisting of a drug-filled reservoir, a valve, two sensors and several electronic components. Saliva enters the reservoir via a membrane, dissolves part of the solid drug and flows through a small duct into the mouth cavity, where it is absorbed by the mucous membranes in the patient’s cheeks. The duct is fitted with two sensors that monitor the amount of medicine being released into the body. The patient has to have the agent refilled every few weeks.

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