> I have a dream of one day being able to just replace _all_ of my teeth at once with one solid porcelain+titanium prosthetic without any interstitial cracks or crevices.
How about the ability to grow one's own teeth in a lab so that you can pull one out and put the new one in? I'd prefer that over having a mouthful of fake teeth.
>>> Also when implants are placed you're removing bone in order to place them.
Read up on dental technology. Implants are not the cutting edge of anything. The modern trend it towards 3d printing the entire tooth, roots and all. Within a few years there will be no need to anchor to bone. Furthermore, steel is pretty strong. It doesn't shatter. A solid steel (or other metal) tooth, with composite/ceramic root structure, would last more than a lifetime.
> Even though you basically can never see the hind teeth
I notice metal in peoples hind teeth all the time. This is still a cosmetic need.
Food for thought. If teeth are constantly grinding against each other, is it good for the opposing teeth to constantly be grinding against a hard material like metal?
A)Teeth are sorta like regular ol' bones 'cept they're on the outside of your body and their purpose is to grind things. B) You don't really need all of them to survive + evolution. C) Humans live a really long time now and we just expect our mashy-grinders to keep up? D) Enamel doesn't like sugar which is in everything.
Thousands of years ago your ancestors may have asked why they should adapt their teeth to be able to survive on either meat or plants. And it would have been a good question. Nevertheless...
Iron is strong, but not that hard and would wear away quickly. Tooth enamel is actually harder than steel and very wear resistant. Iron compounds like hematite are harder, but more brittle.
Iron is a pretty common element, I suspect if there was an iron compound better than calcium compounds for teeth we’d already have iron teeth.
Tooth enamel is not as hard as even unhardened steel. It's a composite material whose hard phase is hydroxyapatite, a hydroxyphosphate of calcium, which is even more brittle than hematite. But the hydroxyapatite crystals are below the critical size for flaw-insensitivity, and the protein matrix that binds them together is too soft to propagate cracks from one to the other. Limpets' teeth do use goethite, an oxyhydroxide of iron, in exactly the same way, achieving hardnesses that do exceed iron's.
So in a way we do already have iron teeth because there's an iron compound better than calcium compounds for teeth, if "we" includes mollusks.
A quote from the article:
"So far, teeth have been regenerated in mice and monkeys, and clinical trials with humans are underway, but whether the technology can generate teeth that are nourished by the blood and have full sensations remains to be seen."
I understand the vital importance of pain as a signal that damage has occurred or is occurring. One of the real design flaws in the body, however, is the inability for humans to consciously shut off pain (at least temporarily) after they are aware of it.
The pain from a severe toothache is one of the worst sensations possible, and doesn't seem to accomplish much. If dental regeneration can become commonplace and relatively cheap, I think I would prefer new teeth without nerve endings and "full sensations."
Teeth are also more intricate and "fiddly". Superficially arms legs fingers and toes are the same thing. Organic leverages. Their makeup due to evolution is advanced, but very straight to the point. They are also big. Teeth are small micro structures.
The major organs are all over the place. The heart and lungs oh so important, yet they be glorified pressure pumps nonetheless. The liver on the other hand, throw any shit into there and it magically outputs clear lifeforce for the body. Very interesting.
This is from a surgical point of view, as I view dentists also as surgeons in the mechanical regard. You have individual branches when you get into genetics/biology off each individual part, which is a whole different level off complexity.
The brain has neurologists, neuroscientist, psychiatrists and psychologists. Also very complex.
I think another reason might simply be the natural tendency to first tackle which lies in front. While genetics and such are interesting, people need direct help with broken limbs and failing organs, creating a pushing need for people requiring such skillsets. Teeth score the highest in this as well. If u break an arm it's w/e but teeth issues are often felt instantly and persist continuously if not dealt with.
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