If you don't feel like going to the dentist, you are not alone. Most people have concerns about visiting these specialists. One study from the Netherlands even showed that 24% of adults don't just dislike, but are afraid of dentists. In addition, a significant number of people try to avoid visiting such clinics and go there only in cases of emergency. This helps explain why 92% of adults have decay in their permanent teeth.
But there is good news. Recent studies show that we may soon have a chance to fill the cavities in our teeth with healthy living tissue, which will give our permanent teeth a second chance.
How shark teeth grow
It may seem that, compared to other species, people are very unlucky, since we have to be content with one set of teeth for the rest of our adult life. Shark lovers, for example, are familiar with the fact that these animals have unlimited sets of teeth throughout their lives. Some of them have a row of teeth under the skin that are just waiting in the wings to replace the missing ones. In addition, teeth are replaced every three weeks. That is why experts believe that the seabed is littered with shark teeth.
Complex structure
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But if sharks, like most reptiles and amphibians, can replace their teeth during life, then why did humans and most mammals receive only two sets of teeth?
The fact is that there is a relationship between the complexity of the teeth and the number of sets that a species has. Since mammals have the ability to chew, they have developed complex sets of teeth of different shapes. For example, pointed canines have only one growth, while premolars have two, and molars have four or five. Such a complex structure of teeth depends on what the mammal feeds on. The species that eat bamboo, for example, have the most complex teeth. For example, the giant panda or bamboo lemur has complex rear teeth with many sharp tubercles that help chew and grind hard tissue. Thus, their teeth look the same even if they are not related to other mammals.
How other animals restore teeth
There are other interesting examples of animals with the ability to repair their teeth. Piranha's teeth are fused together, and they resemble a very sharp knife. Therefore, piranhas lose not one tooth, but an entire quadrant, and they have to rely on the other three quadrants to survive until new ones grow.
Evolution in action
It is unlikely that humans will ever develop the ability to have more than two sets of teeth, as evolution requires these differences to affect whether offspring can survive. Nevertheless, we are still developing in this regard - experts say that fewer people now have wisdom teeth. These are third molars that appear in early adulthood, when our jaw is fully formed. This is because we have been preparing food for ourselves for a long time, and it is softer, so there is no need for third molars. In addition, our jaw is getting smaller, and, accordingly, there is no room for molars. That is why we see more and more people who do not have third molars. Only about 20% of the population does not have wisdom teeth.
The first attempts of scientists
We may never have a third set of teeth, but this does not stop scientists from trying to find a way to replace the extracted teeth with new ones, and moreover, alive. A laboratory at King's College London has successfully implanted bio-teeth in mice. Scientists have used human gum tissue and mouse stem cells to grow new teeth from dentin and enamel. One of the problems of using therapy in the human body is that the cultivation of stem cells takes place in a test tube, but there they quickly lose their power.
Nevertheless, science in this matter does not stand still, new methods of growing teeth appear, for which pulp tissue is used, for example, so it is quite possible that after a while new teeth will become available to ordinary people.
Anna Pismenna
