Enamel Tissue Engineering

Abstract

For a long time metal and resin have been investigated as potential sources to replace enamel. In our laboratory, we are focusing on producing enamel by tissue engineering methods as these techniques are believed to be an extremely powerful approach to replacing enamel. This goal has remained elusive until recently when we finally identified a new tissue engineering method to generate enamel using a specialized enamel organ culture technique and transplantation system. However, two problems still remain to be solved before this technique can be used for clinical applications. Firstly, there is still no method to combine the tissue-engineered enamel with the injured enamel of the original teeth. Secondly, we still cannot control the shape and size of the tissue-engineered enamel. If these two above issues could be addressed then a method to reform the injured enamel on teeth could be developed. The authors thank Dr. Haward Green (Harvard Medical School) for critical reading of the manuscript.