Relaxin is a protein hormone secreted during pregnancy that loosens bones and joints; this allows the mothers body to change shape and accomodate the fetus. I see recombinant relaxin now is being tested clinically.
I propose that just as relaxin faciliates change in the shape of the pelvis under pressure from the uterus, relaxin would facilitate change in position of teeth under pressure from orthodontia. This would mean a shorter period with the orthodontia. The ideal population to test this would be people who get orthodontia for the first time in adulthood.
Relaxin might also speed corrective bracing of other sorts, for example in scoliosis or correction of congenital skeletal problems.-- bungston, Aug 05 2011 Relaxin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relaxin [bungston, Aug 05 2011] http://en.wikipedia...oromandibular_joint [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 06 2011] It would have to be injected and its action wouldn't be confined to the jaw. I would be surprised if it didn't cause osteo-arthritis. On the other hand, pregnancies can be multiple without doing much apparent harm.-- nineteenthly, Aug 05 2011 looks like relaxin operates on connective tissue, not bone... ?-- FlyingToaster, Aug 05 2011 Technically, bone is a form of connective tissue, but i was thinking more of the periodontal ligaments, i.e. similar to the symphysis pubis, though maybe not affected by relaxin, i don't know. There was a saying once that you lose one tooth for each child.-- nineteenthly, Aug 05 2011 It would have to be injected. It would act everywhere. But the softening of connective tissue would lead to movement of hard pieces (bones, teeth) in areas where there was an external force (braces, uterus) pushing the hard bits in that direction.
I wonder if one could become taller using relaxin and gravity boots? Maybe with some gently applied centrifugal force? I can envision a special spa: waterfalls, infusion pumps, crystal chimes, gently twirling upsidedown short rich people...
/ you lose one tooth for each child / that is one I have not heard. But I am not in the UK.-- bungston, Aug 05 2011 It was true of my maternal grandmother (the one who used to say "five and sixty" instead of "sixty-five" and so forth). Six children, six lost teeth. However, i think it's probably nothing to do with relaxin.
There's also a mandibular symphysis but i think it's completely ossified. If not, i can imagine the teeth drifting out of kilter because of that, just as the pubis can. As far as i know it's not significantly different, so i think you'd run into problems there.
Having said that, i am a big fan of relaxin injections for entirely different reasons.-- nineteenthly, Aug 05 2011 //i am a big fan of relaxin injections//
Never a frown, with golden brown...-- Wrongfellow, Aug 05 2011 hmmm there seems to be a correlation or at least a significant number of people who see migraine auras also suffer from tempromandibular joint syndrome. I can't help but wonder if relaxin might help with jaw realignment.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 06 2011 Relaxin is a small molecule, should be amenable to the addition of some side chains to modify its absorption. This would, I suppose be best proposed as an orthodontic treatment for older cases of misaligned teeth after the ligaments are less malleable. Secondary issue, testing such a product on children -- the "We'll never learn" method of utilization review.
I wonder if bone morphogenetic proteins neutralize Relaxin?-- reensure, Aug 06 2011 It might if it were used to help realign teeth which is (probably) the biggest cause.-- FlyingToaster, Aug 06 2011 random, halfbakery