A team of researchers in Kansai is set to begin clinical trials next month to develop medicine to help grow teeth.
The researchers, including from Kitano Hospital and Kyoto University Hospital, will conduct trials for teething medicine, aimed at treating people with congenital anodontia who are born with few teeth.
To check its safety, the experimental drug will first be administered to adult men who have lost back teeth, before it is tested on children with congenital anodontia. The team aims to put the treatment into practical use in around 2030.
About one in 100 people are said to suffer from congenital anodontia, while one in 1,000 people have a genetic predisposition that leaves them missing six teeth or more. There is no fundamental treatment for the disorder, and children with the ailment must have new dentures repeatedly made to fit them as they grow.
After discovering a protein, known as USAG-1, that suppresses tooth growth, the research group developed a drug that inhibits the function of the protein. Mice and dogs with congenital anodontia have been found to grow teeth when administered the drug.
The clinical trials will run through August next year. In the first stage, 30 healthy men between the ages of 30 and 64 will be administered the drug intravenously at Kyoto University Hospital to study the treatment's safety and appropriate doses. The second stage will cover patients between the ages of 2 and 7 who lack at least four teeth.
The treatment may be applied in the future to people who have permanently lost teeth due to cavities and other problems.
"We want to meet the expectations of people who have difficulty living because they don't have teeth," said Katsu Takahashi, head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at Kitano Hospital in the city of Osaka.