title: Wisdom teeth: mankind's future third vice-teeth?
abstract: The third molar teeth (wisdom teeth) represent the last eruption of the teeth in the human dentition. Throughout evolution, the mandible has had a tendency to decrease in size; the third molar teeth are often impacted, resulting in incomplete tooth eruption that often causes clinical pericoronitis, dental caries, and pericemental abscess. Therefore, the wisdom teeth are often extracted. Moreover, wisdom teeth are often removed for clinical orthodontic treatment. On the other hand, tooth loss due to periodontal disease, dental caries, trauma, or a variety of genetic disorders continues to affect people's lives. Autologous tissues for dental tissue regeneration that could replace lost teeth could provide a vital alternative to currently available clinical treatments. To pursue this goal, we hypothesize that human third molar tooth buds can be obtained during development. Human wisdom tooth germination tissue could then be placed into an embryonic stem cell bank for storage. When the donor's other teeth are missing, embryonic stem cell and tissue engineering technologies, will permit the restoration of the missing teeth. Therefore wisdom teeth will be mankind's future third vice-teeth.
authors.affiliation: School of Stomatology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China.
authors.forename: DuoHong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: WangHui
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: LunGuo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: XinQuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: YuanLiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000601:surgery