Mineralized tissues, such as bones or teeth, are essential structures of all vertebrates. They enable rapid movement, protection, and food processing, in addition to providing physiological functions. Although the development, regeneration, and pathogenesis of teeth and bones have been intensely studied, there is currently no tool to accurately follow the dynamics of growth and healing of these vital tissues in space and time. Here, we present the BEE-ST (Bones and tEEth Spatio-Temporal growth monitoring) approach, which allows precise quantification of development, regeneration, remodeling, and healing in any type of calcified tissue across different species. Using mouse teeth as model the turnover rate of continuously growing incisors was quantified, and role of hard/soft diet on molar root growth was shown. Furthermore, the dynamics of bones and teeth growth in lizards, frogs, birds, and zebrafish was uncovered. This approach represents an effective, highly reproducible, and versatile tool that opens up diverse possibilities in developmental biology, bone and tooth healing, tissue engineering, and disease modeling.

Central European Institute of Technology Brno University of Technology Brno Czech Republic

Centre for Craniofacial and Regenerative Biology King's College London London UK

Department of Experimental Biology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Histology and Embryology Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University Brno Czech Republic

Department of Orthodontics University of Leipzig Medical Center Leipzig Germany

Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Czech Academy of Sciences Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Histology and Embryology 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Institute of New Technologies and Applied Informatics Faculty of Mechatronics Informatics and Interdisciplinary Studies Technical University of Liberec Liberec Czech Republic

Institute of Structural Mechanics Faculty of Civil Engineering Brno University of Technology Czech Republic

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Achondroplasia: aligning mouse model with human clinical studies shows crucial importance of immediate postnatal start of the therapy