Reference
Glossary
- Apexification
- The traditional treatment for a necrotic immature permanent tooth: inducing a calcified barrier at the root tip. The control arm against which pulp-regeneration trials are compared.
- BMP signalling
- Bone morphogenetic protein signalling: a core developmental pathway in tooth formation. The anti-USAG-1 mechanism, as reported in the 2021 primary paper, is field-selective enhancement of BMP signalling in tissue already trying to make a tooth.
- Dental lamina
- The embryonic epithelial band from which tooth germs arise. Rudimentary remnants of the lamina are the proposed substrate of a third dentition.
- DPSC
- Dental pulp stem cells: mesenchymal stem cells isolated from the pulp of permanent teeth, investigated for regenerating pulp-dentine tissue inside an existing tooth.
- Enamel remineralisation
- Closing early surface enamel lesions by redepositing mineral, via biomimetic peptides or related products. Frequently described as regrowing enamel; producing new enamel of native thickness and orientation is a different, unsolved problem.
- Organoid
- A self-organizing three-dimensional culture derived from stem cells that recapitulates aspects of an organ's tissue. Tooth epithelial and tooth root organoids model dental development; they are not replacement teeth.
- Periodontal ligament
- The fibrous joint that suspends a tooth root in its socket and senses load. A regenerated tooth must integrate a functional ligament , one of the unresolved problems for organoid and transplant routes.
- Reassociation
- Recombining separated dental epithelial and mesenchymal cells or tissues so they re-initiate tooth development , the core trick behind bioengineered tooth germ and whole-tooth organoid work.
- Regenerative endodontics
- Clinical procedures that aim to restore living tissue inside a damaged or necrotic tooth , cell-based pulp grafts, cell-homing scaffolds, and revitalisation protocols , as distinct from growing a new whole tooth.
- SHED
- Stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth: the deciduous-tooth counterpart of DPSCs, used in the 2018 randomized trial that regenerated pulp tissue in immature permanent incisors (26 patients evaluated, 24-month imaging).
- Third dentition
- The developmental premise that, after the deciduous and permanent sets, rudimentary dental tissue can persist in humans and might be induced to form a new tooth. A biological premise under investigation, not yet a clinical outcome.
- Tideglusib
- A small-molecule GSK-3 antagonist that, applied to an injured mouse tooth, promoted reparative dentine formation (Neves et al., 2017). Preclinical; a repair approach, not whole-tooth regeneration.
- Tooth agenesis
- The congenital absence of one or more teeth (hypodontia; six or more, oligodontia; a complete set, anodontia). The initial target indication of anti-USAG-1 therapy is severe congenital partial anodontia.
- Tooth germ
- The embryonic organ primordium of a tooth, comprising epithelial and mesenchymal components whose interaction drives crown and root development. Bioengineered germs transplanted into adult mice have formed functional teeth.
- TRG-035
- Toregem BioPharma's humanized anti-USAG-1 monoclonal antibody, the first tooth-regeneration drug candidate to reach human clinical testing (Phase I, adults, safety; reported complete 2025-2026).
- USAG-1
- Uterine sensitization-associated gene-1 (also known as sclerostin domain-containing protein 1, SOSTDC1): a secreted antagonist of BMP signalling that acts as a developmental brake on tooth formation. Blocking it relieves tooth agenesis in mouse models.