The Beyond 3000 Dental Clinic in London's Harley Street is offering patients a pair of regenerative dental implants derived from live sharks bred in aquariums in Japan.

Each pair of Scheider Shark Tooth Implants is extracted from a live shark, couriered to London and specially adapted and cut to size in the Beyond 3000 Dental Clinic to fit an individual human patient. One of the implants is inserted into the alveolus in line with the patient's other teeth with the second implant immediately distal to the first. This is necessary because if the more mesial tooth is damaged or knocked out, the distal tooth will move forward into the space – mimicking the 'conveyor belt' mechanism that naturally occurs in sharks. As the front implant is unlikely to be used for biting and tearing flesh by humans to the extent seen in sharks (therefore there is no reason that it will be shed in the patient's lifetime, if oral hygiene is maintained), it is expected that the second implant will be a lifetime reserve rather than an active tooth. Patients will be given close instruction in oral hygiene and maintenance of their Scheider Shark Tooth Implants.

Scientists in Japan are currently conducting experiments on teeth from alligators, an animal species that is also able to grow infinite teeth, to see whether they could also be transplanted into humans. Humans possess a similar gene to both sharks and alligators but this is 'switched off' once human adult teeth have erupted and the epithelial cells needed are no longer generated.

To find out more about current offerings at the Beyond 3000 Dental Clinic - also renowned for its TongueShaping treatment and Palatine Uvula Gem Studs, visit www.dreamdental3000.com.

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