Why can you regenerate regular bones but not teeth?

[SFNQuestions]

It just always seemed weird how someone could heal after getting a broken bone, but it's somehow impossible to gain any amount of thickness on enamel.

[nec209]

Probably because there are lots of other things in the human body that do not regenerate like heart cells or spinal cord. Injuries to your spinal cord do not heel. There some case the brain learn to bypass the injury site if other parts of the spinal cord are not damage.

 

That why I think they are trying turn it back to stem cells because babies in womb can regenerate any thing even grow new limb. But after birth for some strange reason the body know longer knows how to regenerate like it did before.

 

 

[Strange]

The dentine, like bone, can be regenerated. There has been some interesting research on stimulating stem cells to accelerate this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38524566

[SFNQuestions]

The dentine, like bone, can be regenerated. There has been some interesting research on stimulating stem cells to accelerate this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38524566

So teeth do actually grow to retain their original thickness? But how do the teeth "know" that they've grown enough? What's stopping them from growing indefinitely like rats teeth?

[John Cuthber]

The enamel has no blood supply to provide nutrients- that seriously disrupts its chances of growing.

[SFNQuestions]

The enamel has no blood supply to provide nutrients- that seriously disrupts its chances of growing.

Okay well I have someone saying they can grow back allegedly, and now I have you saying they can't. Is there maybe something you're not clarifying?

[John Cuthber]

Dentine <> enamel.

incidentally, since mice are rodents, and one of rodents' defining characteristics is that their teeth grow continuously the research is- shall we say- less useful than it might be.

Edited February 26, 2017 by John Cuthber

[SFNQuestions]

Dentine <> enamel.

incidentally, since mice are rodents, and one of rodents' defining characteristics is that their teeth grow continuously the research is- shall we say- less useful than it might be.

So are you meaning to say that dentin can grow back just fine but enamel seldom does?

[Velocity_Boy]

Teeth are regenerated. But it a one time deal, usually offered during our early childhood years.

 

After that, you're pretty much on your own, mate. LOL.

 

Most entities in the human body are not regenerated totally. Rather, they are repaired or partially restored. It's misleading to claim bones are regenerated, also. If your right femur is amputated six inches above it's distal end it does not grow back, for example. Neither would even a comparatively small phalange in your God or finger. Rather, if fractured they heal. But even then under only optimal circumstances and depending on the severity and nature of the fracture.

 

The largest organ in your body is your epidermal layer. With more restorative cells in it per centimeter than any other organ. Yet even it will not always regenerated to pre trauma condition.

[Phi for All]

Teeth are regenerated. But it a one time deal, usually offered during our early childhood years.

 

After that, you're pretty much on your own, mate. LOL.

 

No, that's misusing the definition of regeneration. Deciduous teeth are temporary, and smaller than adult human teeth. The transition between the two doesn't happen using a regenerative mechanism, but rather one more resembling exfoliation.