Scientists believe they will be able to regrow your teeth within a five year period, Luke O’Neill has said. 

Once dentistry often meant simply pulling out a decaying tooth to fill in the holes. 

Over the centuries, it evolved to filling in the hole in your tooth. 

However, it seems the days of going to the dentist for a filing could soon be nigh. 

 “One of the experts says we're going from drill and fill to heal and rebuild,” Professor O’Neill told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“In other words, if you lose a tooth, can you get it to regrow and get a new tooth to go back in place? 

“Or secondly, can you fix cavities by simply rubbing in special biochemicals to sort of fill in the holes in your teeth?” 

A woman undergoing a dental procedure. Picture by: Igor Kardasov / Alamy Stock Photo.

Much like bones, teeth are made from calcium - but unlike bones, teeth do not possess the power to heal themselves. 

Sharks can regrow teeth, so why not human adults? 

“It turns out that the genes needed to grow teeth turn off when you pass the age of 12,” Professor O’Neill explained. 

“So, once your teeth are in place, again, mysteriously, they didn't get reactivated - you can't regrow teeth.

“That was the mystery and what the science is doing is trying to reactivate those pathways, I guess, to make the teeth grow.”

A dentist at work. Picture by: Liam McBurney/PA Wire/PA Images

Professor O’Neill added the science is “still early” but that experiments on mice have shown strong progress.  

“So, they found basically the proteins that aren't being made,” he said. 

“Can you stick them in a patch, put them in the gum? And now the tooth will start to regrow - not quite there yet. 

“They're talking about a five-year timeline but the breakthrough is understanding the whole process, first and foremost.”

Main image: A split of Luke O'Neill and a woman at the dentist. Pictures by: Newstalk and Alamy.com.