Technological Advances in Medicine and Dentistry Part 1
-Well, the response we received since our part one had been published was quite remarkable and apparently people would like to know more about new approaches and what is available today. I would like to dedicate some time to current bioengineering technologies that we already apply in current clinical practice.
-Sounds pretty interesting!
-I believe our readers would also find it extremely interesting from not only informative standpoint, but also as a practical guideline to what might be applicable in some of their own cases. Today I would like to talk about tissue engineering as it relates to the field of regenerative dentistry.
Since the recent advance in medical genetics and cellular biology we have learnt a great deal how biological developments take place on the cellular and molecular levels. Significant knowledge has been accumulated about cells life cycle, their change based on various factors and how cells interact with each other. Not only were researches able to identify multiple cell lines responsible for initiation and regulation of growth and regeneration, but also look deeper into how that regulation occurs. As you might have guessed I am referring here to what’s been dubbed stem cell bioengineering.
-Quite a hot subject given the buzz that surrounds it.
-Absolutely! This area of medical science has been rapidly developing thanks to the available technological advances. But what is more important is that it opened up horizons that were never even thought of before. Theoretically it offered the humanity a hint of immortality so to speak, but practically speaking we were given the opportunity to cure medical problems that were considered unapproachable in not quite so distant past. The prospects of this field were so overwhelming that it posed quite a few concerns and thus every development in this area is being closely watched by public and regulators alike. From scientific point of view we realized that there was so much more for us to learn, no matter how exciting new vistas might seem. For a practicing clinician doctor it gave new tools and methods to implement in everyday practice
-But Dr. Daniyar, since the field in its developing stage, how safe it is to apply new methods in practical medicine and dentistry?
-Great question!! No matter how enthusiastic one might feel about all the prospects of regenerative medicine or dentistry the safety remains number one issue for any practicing dentist or physician. Therefore in our Naples Implant and Laser Dental Center we only apply methods that have been widely proven safe and also supported by years of solid scientific research and safety data from practical applications. Current approved approaches mostly concentrate on ways of stimulating and managing our patients’ own natural regenerative processes and achieving desirable controlled results as it pertains to each applicable individual case. This is also referred as managed tissue engineering. It is accomplished by introducing patient’s own natural or bioidentical synthetic factors into the area where tissue has to be restored. Those factors can include patient’s own cells and tissue grafts to where the tissue needs to be regenerated. Or it can also include number of recombinant (bioidentical) growth factors. The latter ones are bioactive proteins that are the key components communicating growth signals to the cells in the process of regeneration. In other words we’re simply jump starting the healing process to undo the damage resulted from either disease or trauma.
To be continued…
