It’s a “Jetson’s”-style thought: In the future, we could use toothbrushes made of lasers to avoid cavities.

OK … maybe not.

But researchers have recently shown that a low-powered laser light can nudge dental stem cells into forming dentin, the material that makes up much of your teeth.

And in fact, the lasers may be able to do more than just repair cavities. They could help dental stem cells regrow entire teeth — directly in the mouth of the patient.

Typically, when researchers work with stem cells, the stem cells have to be removed from a person’s body, manipulated in a laboratory, then returned to the person’s body. But in this study, the researchers worked with dental stem cells in the mouths of rats. After treating a site, they capped it and examined the results 12 weeks later. They found the laser treatment triggered new dentin formation at the site. The researchers say performing the treatment in the mouths of patients can significantly clear many logistical and regulatory hurdles.

Also, scientists say regenerating teeth is preferable to replacing them.

Here’s how it works: The laser activates a regulatory growth hormone that is dormant until a molecule comes along to trigger it. In turn, the hormone spurs the dental stem cells to produce dentin.

The study has some history with doctors using laser light to rejuvenate skin and stimulate hair growth. Now, researchers have been able to prove the benefits of low-powered lasers.

The researchers hope laser treatment can ultimately be used to repair teeth in people. They say lasers are already commonly used in medicine and dentistry, and expect the barriers to implement the lasers in dentistry to be low. They are currently exploring human safety and efficacy tests.

Who knows, laser toothbrushes could be next after all.