Banking on teeth – Stem cells and the dental office

Department

Biomedical Sciences

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Biomedical Journal

ISSN

2319-4170

Volume

43

Issue

2

DOI

10.1016/j.bj.2020.02.003

First Page

124

Last Page

133

Publication Date

4-1-2020

Abstract

Science and commerce advance together and the stem cell field is no exception. With the promise of cures for conditions as diverse as cancer, autism, neural degeneration, organ replacement and addiction, long-term preservation of dental stem cells is a growth market. The discovery nearly twenty years ago, of viable, multipotent, stem cells in dental pulp from both baby and adult teeth initiated, and drives, this market.The dental stem cell preservation services, “tooth banks”, focus on the collection of a child's baby teeth, as they are shed naturally, and storage of the stem cells from within the pulp for therapeutic use in later years should the child require them. This review focuses on the procedures related to these stem cell storage services and may serve as an introduction for many to the practice of “tooth banking”.

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