Tuesday 6 November 2012

Stem cells from teeth 'banked' for future use

Few people cannot have heard about the potential benefits of stem cell therapy. New advances are being made all the time and an opportunity now exists for dentists to 'bank' stem cells either from yourself, a child or loved one. It seems that a good place to harvest stem cells is from the pulps of teeth: either baby teeth that are about to fall out, from permanent teeth that need to be removed electively for orthodontic reasons, or wisdom teeth. The tooth need to be in good condition otherwise or the stem cells will not be as viable. After processing the cells are stored. What price that tooth if it later proves that the banked stem cells could be used to regrow a defective organ? Currently there are 85 medical conditions for which these stem cells can be used.

No comments:

Post a Comment