Will dentures become obsolete? The BBC reports (via SlashDot) that UK scientists are discovering a way to grow replacement teeth using human stem cells:

Scientists at King's College London have been awarded £500,000 to help them develop human teeth from stem cells.

The company Odontis, set up by the college, hopes to develop its research for tests on humans within two years after successful research on mice. Stem cells, the so-called master cells, would be programmed to develop into teeth and then transplanted into the patient's jaw where the gap is. It is thought it would then take two months for the tooth to fully develop. [...] The cost [of the procedure] should not be more than the price of synthetic implants of between £1,500 - £2,000.

If you read some of the SlashDot-posted comments, you'll get a feeling for the mixed emotions surrounding this type of technology, since current stem-cell research focuses mainly on fetal stem cells. I have the feeling that people opposed to abortion and fetal stem cell research aren't likely to cotton the idea of adults employing fetal cells to regrow teeth they should have taken better care of in the first place...but that's a different discussion altogether. I'll save it for another time.

Anyhow, I have this funny feeling that the procedure would eventually cost a lot more here in the U.S. - the BBC article doesn't mention whether the quoted cost would be per tooth, or for a full set of replacements.

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