Can Teeth Regrow? What The Science Actually Shows Right Now

Tooth regrowth sounds like science fiction, but a real drug is now in human trials. Headlines make it sound imminent. The actual picture involves several separate discoveries, each at a different stage of proof. This article sorts out what's real, what's tested, and what's still years away.

TL;DR

• A Japanese drug called TRG-035 blocks a protein named USAG-1 and reactivates dormant tooth buds in mice and ferrets.

• Human trials started in 2024, targeting children with congenital tooth absence first, and aim for a 2030 public release.

• Enamel cannot regrow once it's gone, but new peptide gels can remineralize early lesions before they become cavities.

• Wisdom teeth never grow back after extraction, and a broken tooth only repairs a thin layer of dentin on its own.

Can Teeth Grow Back Naturally

Most people assume the answer is simply no. The real biology is more interesting, and it explains why a tooth-regrowing drug is possible at all.

Humans grow exactly two sets of teeth across a lifetime. Wisdom teeth are part of that same permanent set, not a separate generation.

Once a permanent tooth bud is used or degenerates, the body normally has no process to produce a replacement. Sharks are different. They regrow teeth continuously throughout their lives, a trait humans do not share.

Research has uncovered a genuinely surprising detail, confirmed in a peer-reviewed study published by Kyoto University researchers.

Humans, like most mammals, carry the dormant genetic capacity for a third generation of teeth. That capacity is switched off by a specific protein rather than missing entirely, according to the original research published in Science Advances.

This single fact is the scientific basis for the drug trial covered in the next section. It's worth holding onto before the rest of this article makes sense.

Three biologically different questions get lumped together under the phrase tooth regrowth. Growing an entirely new tooth is one.

Regenerating enamel on a tooth that already exists is another, covered later, using effective treatments for white spots on teeth as a reference point.

A tooth's own limited ability to repair minor internal damage after an injury or cavity is the third, and it works nothing like the other two.

The Tooth Regrowing Drug: How It Works

This is the story behind most of the recent headlines. A specific drug, developed in Japan, is the reason tooth regrowth suddenly feels close instead of theoretical.

Where The Discovery Came From

The technology traces back to Dr. Katsu Takahashi, now Chief of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Kitano Hospital, who studied congenital edentulism, a condition that reduces quality of life due to a lack of teeth since childhood.

In 2007, his research team encountered a mouse model with excess teeth, in which tooth buds that should normally degenerate kept growing in the mouth. That accidental finding pointed researchers toward the gene responsible for suppressing extra tooth growth.

Takahashi has described the goal as a long-standing personal one. He told the Japanese newspaper The Mainichi, as reported by Dentistry Today, that growing new teeth is every dentist's dream, and that he has pursued the idea since graduate school with confidence he would eventually make it work.

The Protein Behind The Drug

The drug works by suppressing a protein called USAG-1, short for uterine sensitization-associated gene-1, which normally limits tooth growth. Picture USAG-1 as a brake on dormant tooth buds.

Blocking it can, in animal studies, let those buds develop into real teeth.

Researchers already knew that suppressing USAG-1 benefited tooth growth from earlier animal work. What they didn't know, according to Takahashi's account in a Kyoto University press release describing the team's mouse study, was whether that effect would be strong enough on its own to produce a usable therapy.

In ferret studies, the drug produced a new tooth and also strengthened bone in the existing set, with no significant side effects reported at that stage.

Ferrets matter to this research for a specific reason. They are diphyodont animals, meaning they naturally develop two sets of teeth across their lifetime, much like humans, which makes their dental patterns unusually similar to ours. Takahashi's team has pointed to that similarity, reported by Medpath's coverage of the trial launch, as the reason ferrets served as a useful stand-in before testing moved to people.

The Drug And The Trial

The therapy is known as TRG-035, developed by Toregem BioPharma, a company that grew out of the Kyoto University and Kitano Hospital research.

Kyoto University Hospital launched the first human trial of the drug in October 2024. Takahashi described the approach to AFP in terms that make the novelty clear.

“It's a technology completely new to the world.”

Takahashi also pointed out why a biological approach could matter to patients weighing their options against dental implant treatment planning or other prosthetic care. Restoring a person's own natural tooth carries real advantages over an artificial replacement, in his view, since a regrown tooth would function and feel like the original rather than a manufactured substitute.

The treatment being tested is delivered intravenously, not as a pill or a topical gel, a distinction worth remembering next to the enamel gels covered later in this article.

The American Dental Association's own coverage of the trial frames the motivation in similarly direct terms: the research team wants to help the large population of people currently living with tooth loss or teeth that never developed at all, a group that includes both older adults with missing teeth and children born with congenital gaps in their smile.

Animal success does not guarantee human success. No peer-reviewed data confirming full human tooth regrowth from this drug has been published as of this writing.

The current trial phase tests safety, not effectiveness.

What Outside Researchers Think

Independent scientists who are not involved in the trial have weighed in publicly, and their reactions add useful context beyond the research team's own optimism.

Ophir Klein, a craniofacial researcher, told AFP that the work is worth pursuing, while cautioning that the road from a promising trial to an approved therapy is long.

He compared the effort to a set of back-to-back ultra-marathons rather than a short sprint, and noted one reason for cautious optimism: an antibody drug that targets a protein nearly identical to USAG-1 is already approved and in use to treat osteoporosis, which suggests this general class of drug can be made safe for long-term human use.

Chengfei Zhang, a clinical professor in endodontics at the University of Hong Kong, offered a more skeptical read of the underlying science to the same AFP report.

"The assertion that humans possess latent tooth buds capable of producing a third set of teeth is both revolutionary and controversial."

Zhang still described Takahashi's overall method as innovative and holding real potential, even while flagging that the core premise remains scientifically contested. That mix of genuine interest and open skepticism is fairly typical of how the wider dental research community has responded to the trial so far.

Growing A Third Set Of Teeth: What Is Actually Being Tested

News coverage often uses the phrase third set of teeth, which sounds bigger than what's actually being studied. This section breaks down the real trial structure and timeline.

What A Third Set Actually Means

Inhibiting USAG-1 reactivates dormant tooth buds, potentially leading to new tooth growth in humans.

A third set doesn't mean a whole new mouth of teeth for everyone. It refers to the small number of dormant tooth buds already present beneath the gumline in some people, which can, in theory, be coaxed into developing.

Trial Structure And Timeline

The initial phase involves 30 healthy adult males aged 30 to 64, each missing at least one tooth, with the primary goal of assessing safety and determining appropriate dosing.

If this phase succeeds, later phases are planned to focus on children aged 2 to 7 with congenital anodontia, a condition where individuals are born without a complete set of teeth, before moving toward adults with partial tooth loss.

The Japanese research team aims to make the drug available to the general public by 2030, but that date depends entirely on trial results that don't yet exist. Independent analysis of the trial's progress is more cautious about that timeline, concluding that clinical availability before 2030 remains unlikely and that initial use will probably focus on congenitally missing teeth rather than routine tooth replacement for adults.

Why Children Are Prioritized

Researchers plan to prioritize children with congenital tooth absence over adults seeking cosmetic or injury-related replacement.

This reflects both ethical trial-design norms, treating a diagnosed medical condition first, and the possibility that pediatric tooth buds respond differently from adult ones.

The therapy is not designed to add a full extra set of teeth to someone who already has all their adult teeth. It targets people missing teeth, not people looking to add teeth to a complete smile.

Can Wisdom Teeth Regrow After Removal

This question gets searched constantly, and the answer is simple. What people mistake for regrowth usually has a different, explainable cause.

Once a wisdom tooth is fully extracted, it cannot biologically grow back because there is no natural way for a new wisdom tooth to grow in its place.

Humans only develop two sets of teeth in a lifetime, and a fully removed tooth, roots included, does not regenerate.

Why People Think A Tooth Is Growing Back

A few distinct situations explain the sensation of a returning tooth, and each one has a different fix. Anyone noticing new tissue or discomfort at an old extraction site should have it evaluated rather than assuming either regrowth or nothing at all, a topic covered in more depth in wisdom teeth removal, care, and recovery.

• A retained root fragment left behind during extraction can cause discomfort or a sensation that the tooth is returning

• Shifting of the remaining teeth after extraction can create pressure that feels similar to a tooth emerging

• Supernumerary, or extra, teeth already present behind the wisdom teeth can erupt later and get mistaken for regrowth

Supernumerary teeth occur in only about 1 to 4 percent of the population and are a separate, congenital phenomenon unrelated to the extraction itself.

For anyone still weighing whether to remove a wisdom tooth in the first place, the recovery timeline after wisdom teeth surgery walks through what the healing process actually looks like week by week.

Can A Broken Tooth Regrow On Its Own

A cracked or chipped tooth triggers a natural question: Does the body fix this by itself? The honest answer sits between yes and no, and understanding it prevents a small problem from becoming a bigger one.

Enamel itself cannot repair or regrow once it's fractured, a point covered in full in the enamel section below.

The living tissue inside the tooth has a narrow natural repair capacity, though, and it's worth understanding accurately. Anyone dealing with a fresh chip right now can find practical first steps in temporary solutions for a chipped tooth at home, while a dentist evaluates permanent repair options.

What The Pulp Can Actually Repair

If dentin decay or damage is not too severe, the pulp can generate new dentin to repair it on its own. This natural process is driven by what endodontic researchers at Temple University's Kornberg School of Dentistry call the pulp-dentin complex, a close working relationship between the two tissues that both originate from the same region of the developing tooth.

Maobin Yang, an associate professor of endodontology and director of Temple University's Regenerative Health Research Laboratory, has described this repair process as something the body does naturally without any outside intervention, provided the underlying decay hasn't progressed too far. His team's broader research goal is to understand this natural process well enough to eventually assist it, potentially making procedures like root canals less invasive over time.

Severe damage that penetrates both enamel and dentin into the pulp stimulates a limited natural repair process, in which new odontoblasts form and produce new dentin to repair the lesion.

Odontoblasts are the specialized cells that originally built the tooth's dentin layer, and they can, to a limited degree, be reactivated to lay down more.

The Limits Of Natural Repair

These stem cells can currently regenerate only a very thin layer of new dentin after an injury, nowhere near enough to close a significant gap, such as one left after a cavity is drilled out.

This is why fillings, crowns, and root canals remain necessary for anything beyond minor damage. Anyone facing that step can review what to expect in managing discomfort from root canal treatment or check current pricing for how much is treatment for a root canal.

Research In Early Stages

Scientists have studied drugs such as Tideglusib, originally investigated for Alzheimer's disease, for their potential to wake up dental stem cells and stimulate more substantial dentin regrowth.

Separate research into low-level light therapy, called photobiomodulation, has explored whether light stimulation can encourage stem cells to regrow dentin. Both remain early-stage research, not available treatments.

A broken tooth cannot regrow the way a healed cut regrows skin. Whatever the pulp can naturally repair is minor, and a fractured or badly broken tooth still needs a dentist for restoration.

Regrowing Tooth Enamel, A Different Kind Of Science

Enamel regrowth is constantly confused with whole-tooth regrowth, but the two involve completely different biology, timelines, and research teams. This section separates them clearly.

Why Enamel Is Different From Every Other Tissue

Enamel is produced by specialized cells called ameloblasts during tooth development. Unlike bone cells, which stay active throughout life and can repair fractures, ameloblasts die off after teeth finish forming.

This makes enamel unique among the body's mineralized tissues. It's made once and never biologically replaced.

That fact answers the question directly. You cannot regrow tooth enamel once it's truly gone.

You can restore minerals to enamel that has started to weaken, though, since early-stage enamel loss is reversible through remineralization, while fully worn-away enamel requires dental restoration. Understanding where damage falls on that spectrum determines what's actually possible.

What Changed Recently

In November 2025, researchers from the University of Nottingham published findings in Nature Communications describing a gel made from proteins engineered to mimic the molecules that build enamel during infancy.

The gel appeared to restart that mineral-building process in damaged adult teeth. It's fluoride-free and forms a mineral-rich layer that restores enamel's strength and structure, mimicking the body's natural growth process rather than simply depositing surface minerals.

Lead author Abshar Hasan, a postdoctoral fellow at Nottingham, explained the mechanism to Interesting Engineering: when the material is applied to demineralized or eroded enamel, or to exposed dentin, it promotes the growth of new mineral crystals in an integrated, organized manner that recovers the architecture of natural, healthy enamel rather than sitting on top of it as a coating.

Hasan's team also tested how the regrown material holds up outside a lab beaker, under conditions meant to simulate daily wear such as brushing, chewing, and exposure to acidic foods. According to Hasan, the regenerated enamel behaved just like healthy natural enamel under those simulated real-life conditions, a result the team sees as an early sign that the material could hold up in an actual mouth rather than only in a controlled lab setting.

Alvaro Mata, a University of Nottingham professor of biomedical engineering and one of the study's senior researchers, described the speed of the effect to New Scientist, as reported by Futurism.

"The growth actually happens within a week."

That speed is notable because it stands in contrast to how slowly natural enamel formed in the first place, over months during childhood tooth development, and it's part of why the finding drew attention well beyond dental research circles.

A separate study published the same month, from Sichuan University in the journal ACS Nano, found that keratin, the protein in human hair and nails, can also help repair enamel. Multiple research groups are converging on protein-based approaches independently. For patients already dealing with visible white spots on teeth, this research area is worth watching closely.

The More Established Peptide Research

Biomimetic approaches using amelogenin-derived peptides have demonstrated the ability to regrow organized, enamel-like mineral crystals on demineralized human enamel.

These approaches have achieved results in laboratory studies on sectioned human molars, with a twofold increase in hardness in the regrown layer compared to untreated samples.

This line of research has a longer track record than the 2025 gel findings and is closer to informing real clinical products.

How To Regrow Tooth Enamel: What Actually Works Today

Search interest in this exact phrase is high, and the honest version of the question is different from how it's usually asked. This section bridges the science above to what a patient can actually do right now.

Reframing The Question

The accurate version of how to regrow tooth enamel today is how to remineralize early enamel damage before it becomes permanent, since true enamel regrowth products are not yet on the market.

That distinction matters because a lot of marketing language blurs it on purpose. Toothpaste and mouthwash ads often use words like repair, rebuild, or strengthen, which sound like regrowth but usually describe ordinary remineralization, the same basic process fluoride has supported for decades.

None of that is dishonest on its own. Remineralization genuinely works, and it's the correct tool for the specific stage of damage it targets. The confusion comes from treating remineralization and true enamel regrowth as the same thing, when they sit at very different points on the damage spectrum described earlier in this article.

What's Proven And Available Now

Fluoride remains the most established remineralization tool, strengthening weakened enamel and helping prevent early decay from progressing, a topic covered in depth in the best fluoride toothpaste.

Clinical trials on noncavitated, early-stage lesions show that self-assembling peptide gels can penetrate early lesions, create measurable remineralization, and reduce lesion depth. In some studies, they outperformed fluoride varnish alone on white-spot and early occlusal lesions.

Systematic reviews published between 2023 and 2025 describe these peptide gels as promising noninvasive interventions for initial caries. Most studies still have modest sample sizes and follow-up periods, so more data are needed before broad clinical adoption.

What's Coming But Not Yet Available

Clinical trials for the Nottingham enamel-regrowth gel are scheduled to begin in 2026.

Researchers hope those trials will show whether the gel holds up in real mouths, how many applications are needed, and whether the new mineral layer meaningfully reduces decay rates in patients.

Setting Realistic Expectations

These treatments are meant for early, noncavitated lesions. Once a cavity is deep or a tooth is broken, restorative treatment such as a filling, crown, or onlay is still needed.

For the broader prevention picture, how to prevent cavities and protect your teeth covers the daily habits that keep enamel from reaching that point in the first place.

• Limit frequent exposure to acidic foods and drinks, since enamel needs time to recover between exposures

• Use fluoride toothpaste and, where a dentist recommends it, higher-concentration fluoride treatments for early lesions

• Ask a dentist whether a peptide-based remineralization product fits an early white-spot lesion, since some practices already offer these ahead of the full public rollout

• Treat visible cavities, chips, or breaks as a reason to see a dentist rather than attempt home remineralization

Tooth Regrowing Drug Price: What It Will Likely Cost

This is one of the most searched questions about the whole topic, and it deserves an honest answer rather than a made-up number. Here's what can genuinely be said about cost right now.

There is currently no public, confirmed price for TRG-035 or any whole-tooth regrowth drug. The treatment has not completed clinical trials or received regulatory approval anywhere, including the US.

Why No Price Exists Yet

The therapy is still experimental. According to independent trial analysis, initial costs will likely be high due to biologic drug manufacturing, specialized delivery methods, and clinical monitoring requirements.

Intravenous antibody-based biologics are generally far more expensive to produce and administer than a conventional pill.

A Realistic Frame Of Reference

Comparable biologic antibody therapies already on the market, in other areas of medicine, commonly range from several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars per treatment course.

That offers a realistic ballpark for how an intravenous antibody-based dental therapy might eventually be priced, though this is a general comparison, not a projection specific to TRG-035.

What This Means For US Patients

Even after any eventual approval, a therapy like this would likely first roll out in Japan. It would need separate regulatory review before becoming available in the United States, adding potentially years beyond the 2030 target researchers have mentioned.

For context, dental implants, a mature option available today, typically range from a few thousand to over ten thousand dollars depending on the case. That's the cost category any future regrowth therapy would need to compete with.

Anyone comparing current options before a consultation can map out the full scope of a case with a dental treatment plan rather than guessing at a single number.

Tooth Regrowing Drug Trial Sign Up, How To Get Involved

People genuinely interested in participating in this research need accurate, current information rather than speculation. Here's what's actually true about enrollment right now.

The TRG-035 human trial is being conducted in Japan through Kyoto University Hospital and Toregem BioPharma. It is not currently open to the general public or to participants outside Japan.

Stated Eligibility Criteria

Toregem BioPharma's own site describes eligibility for their planned trials as being over age 15 with a retained baby tooth whose permanent tooth has not come in, or having six or more missing teeth. The company directs interested individuals to contact them directly if they believe they may qualify.

Eligibility, timing, and enrollment availability can change, so anyone genuinely interested should check the company's official site directly rather than relying on secondhand reporting.

How Trial Enrollment Generally Works

Clinical trials typically progress in phases: safety first, then effectiveness, then larger comparative studies. Each phase has specific eligibility criteria tied to age, health status, and the dental condition being studied.

Understanding this structure helps set expectations for what a future opportunity to participate might actually look like.

The Realistic Path For US Readers

Even if trials expand internationally, US participation would likely require a separate US-based trial registered on a platform like ClinicalTrials.gov and run under FDA oversight. A foreign trial does not typically enroll US participants directly.

Readers interested in emerging dental trials can generally search ClinicalTrials.gov directly for current dental regeneration studies open in the US.

Some independent, non-clinical websites have emerged to gauge public interest in future tooth regeneration trials and connect interested individuals with updates.

These are not themselves clinical trials or guarantees of future participation. Any such sign-up should be treated as an interest list rather than enrollment.

Other Approaches To Tooth Regeneration Being Studied

The USAG-1 drug gets most of the attention, but it's one piece of a much wider research effort. Seeing the full picture shows this is an active field with multiple independent paths forward, not a single breakthrough away from a finished product.

Scientists at Tufts University have developed scaffold-based methods using dental cells from humans and pigs, while researchers at the University of Washington School of Dentistry have successfully created proteins that form dental enamel.

Scientists at King's College London have achieved laboratory-grown teeth that could theoretically integrate naturally into the jaw. Researchers describe this as a potentially stronger, longer-lasting solution compared to traditional fillings or implants.

Stem cell-based pulp and dentin regeneration research, covered earlier in the broken tooth section, represents another active branch. It's distinct from both the USAG-1 whole-tooth approach and enamel-focused peptide research.

Harvard researchers have reported success in regenerating dental pulp using stem cells combined with biomaterials. Early experiments showed the regenerated pulp could restore sensory function and support tooth longevity, offering a potential future alternative to conventional root canal treatment.

Multiple independent teams around the world, using different biological mechanisms, protein signaling, stem cells, tissue scaffolding, and peptide mineralization, are converging on the same broad goal from different directions.

What This Means For Your Dental Care Today

It's easy to read about a tooth-regrowing drug and wonder whether current dental treatment is worth pursuing at all. It is, and here's why none of this changes the calculus yet.

None of the technologies discussed in this article are available at a dental office today. The one partial exception is early peptide-based remineralization products beginning to appear in select practices for early enamel lesions.

Missing, broken, or badly decayed teeth still need today's established treatments: fillings, crowns, root canals, and options like a dental bridge. None of the regenerative approaches covered here have reached the point of replacing them.

Keeping up with a dentist for anything covered in this article beats waiting for unavailable future treatments, especially for anything urgent like a broken tooth, a deep cavity, or persistent pain.

Bottom Line

Tooth regrowth research is real, active, and further along than most people realize, but no version of it is sitting in a dental office yet.

The USAG-1 drug could eventually let some patients grow a replacement tooth. Enamel gels could eventually stop early damage before it becomes a cavity. Neither is available today.

For anything happening in your mouth right now, current dentistry, from fillings to dental implant treatment planning, remains the only proven path forward.