A group of scientists in London is changing the future of dental care.
For the first time, researchers at King’s College London have successfully grown human teeth in the lab. This development may not be ready to replace lost teeth just yet, but it’s bringing researchers closer to a future where missing teeth can be naturally replaced—not with implants, but with real ones grown from cells.
The work is being led by Dr Ana Angelova-Volponi, who came to King’s College to explore the idea of regrowing teeth biologically. She and her team are now able to grow what they call “toothlets”—tiny teeth—from scratch under lab conditions. These aren’t just models or plastic molds. They’re real tooth cells, behaving like natural ones.
Unlike most animals that can replace teeth over and over again, humans only grow two sets in a lifetime. Once adult teeth are gone, they don’t grow back. Dentists usually turn to fillings, dentures, or implants. But these can come with complications, especially for older patients. Implants require surgery and can fail if the jawbone is weak. Lab-grown teeth, however, would naturally grow into the jaw, just like baby or adult teeth do.
Helping bring this project to life is PhD student Xuechen Zhang, who says lab-grown teeth could avoid many of the problems implants cause. Because they’re made from the body’s own cells, there’s no risk of rejection. They also have the potential to last longer and work more like real teeth.
The scientists have created a special material that helps cells talk to each other, similar to what happens naturally during early tooth development. One cell can signal another to turn into a tooth cell. That kind of communication is crucial for growing teeth that form properly and are ready to function once implanted.
What’s next is figuring out how to move from lab to patient. There are two possible paths: one is placing young tooth cells directly into the jaw where the tooth is missing and letting them grow there; the other is growing an entire tooth in the lab and then transplanting it into the mouth. Both ideas are still under research.
Despite the early success, experts like Dr Saoirse O’Toole, a prosthodontics lecturer, say it will be years before this technology is ready for use in regular dental clinics. But it’s a step forward that could transform dental treatment, especially for people who suffer from tooth loss due to age, disease, or injury.
For now, it’s a promise of what’s to come—a natural, long-lasting way to bring back lost teeth. It may not be available tomorrow, but it could be the reality for future generations.