Grow Your Own Teeth

Damaged or missing teeth are a large and significant problem with dentures, bridges or synthetic implants being the only treatment currently available. These methods are often invasive and surgically traumatic.

Odontis’ pioneering technology will allow the patient to grow his or her own natural replacement teeth instead of having a synthetic implant. As well as the benefit of not experiencing surgical trauma, there is also the psychological boost of ‘having one’s own teeth’.

The project is the brainchild of genetic research scientist, Professor Paul Sharpe, who is currently the Head of Division of Craniofacial Biology and Biomaterials of the Dental Institute, Kings College London. His discovery is based on human stem cell technology.

Stem cells are taken from the patient, treated and cultured in a laboratory, then re-implanted in the patient’s jaw under the gum at the site of the missing or extracted tooth. This then grows into a fully-formed, live tooth in the same way that teeth develop naturally.

To date, no companies or research groups in the world have been able to demonstrate the formation of a living, natural tooth.

In both the US and UK, adults aged over 50 lose on average 12 teeth, including four wisdom molars, from a full complement of 32 teeth. Lost teeth can lead to problems with health, nutrition and appearance.

On receiving NESTA’s investment, Professor Sharpe says: “We are delighted to receive this investment from NESTA and the Wellcome Trust. It will be a major help in taking the technology forward which will be eventually used on patients.”

The project is receiving a total investment of £500,000: £100,000 from NESTA, £300,000 University Translation Award from the Wellcome Trust and £100,000 from a business angel. Kinetique Biomedical Seed Fund has already invested £250,000 in the proof of concept phase.

Professor Sharpe, adds: “A key medical advantage of our technology is that a living tooth can preserve the health of the surrounding tissues much better than artificial prosthesis. Teeth are living, and they are able to respond to a person’s bite. They move, and in doing so they maintain the health of the surrounding gums and teeth.”

Mark White, NESTA Invention and Innovation Director, says: “Odontis have come up with a dental method that is highly innovative and pioneering in its approach. We hope that our seed investment will bring about a major success story for UK the research and science community.”

Notes to editors

In the US more than 20 million people are missing their natural teeth, with more than 100 million people missing 11-15 teeth.

In 2001 there were 252,000 implant procedures.

The global dental implant market is forecast to grow at around 15-20% per annum for the next 5-6 years, meaning that the market would rise from US$900 million at present to around US$1.5 billion by 2007.

The Wellcome Trust is an independent research-funding charity established in 1936 under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome. The Trust's mission is to promote research with the aim of improving human and animal health and it currently spends around £400m p.a. The Technology Transfer Division manages the charity's intellectual property portfolio and related matters and also provides translation funding for early-stage healthcare technology development. Over 70 research and license agreements have been transacted and the Division has an interest in around 30 early-stage life science companies in the UK and US.

King’s is one of the oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with 13,800 undergraduate students and some 5,300 postgraduates in ten schools of study. The Dental Institute was awarded the maximum research (5*) and teaching (24) rating in national exercises.

• NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) was established by Act of Parliament in 1998 to pioneer ways of supporting and promoting talent, innovation and creativity in science, technology and the arts.

• NESTA’s income initially came from the interest on an endowment of £200 million from National Lottery funds. In February 2003, NESTA received an additional £50 million bringing the endowment up to £250 million and an extra £45 million to use as revenue expenditure until 2006 (£15 million a year from 2003). NESTA plans to spend over £20 million a year on UK creativity and innovation.

• Since May 2000, NESTA has spent over £40 million on more than 387 awards.

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