Precision dentistry: CRISPR in oral health

With the technological revolution, precision medicine has become a possible entity in the present times. Genome editing, a genetic engineering tool, has added a new dimension to diagnostics and therapeutics in healthcare. Amongst the genome editing tools, CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) stands out for its efficiency, versatility, and precision. CRISPR refers to a genetic scissor that can precisely edit specific parts of DNA accurately and comprises three steps: identification, editing, and repair. CRISPR has seen various applications in medicine from treating genetic and infectious diseases to cancer therapy. In dentistry, CRISPR technology is in its initial stages and has shown potential in periodontitis, dental caries, head and neck cancer, orthodontics, craniofacial defects, and viral infections. CRISPR by host response modulation offers personalized periodontal care, inhibits biofilm formation to prevent dental caries, personalized cancer treatment by targeting responsible genes, provides genetic information on the aetiology of craniofacial malformations, and helps in understanding viral infections and targeted therapies. This customized precision approach opens new avenues to improved treatment outcomes. CRISPR technology is not devoid of challenges, it has ethical challenges, immunogenicity, and off-target effects, yet, it holds promise as a future diagnostic and therapeutic approach if implemented with care.