Many parents around the world are now considering the option of storing stem cells from their children in stem cell banks. In the past decade, scientists have discovered that the pulp of baby teeth have a high content of stem cells. At the rate that stem cell research is advancing, this decision could save their childrens’ lives one day. Other options, such as storing blood from babies’ umbilical cords after birth, are available; however, storing milk teeth stem cells present some unique advantages.
Storing Stem Cells and Stem Cell Research
Stem cells have generated a great deal of scientific interest in past decades because of the cells’ ability to renew themselves and differentiate into a wide range of specialized cell types. There are several types of stem cells, classified according to their ability or potential to differentiate into other types of cells (Scholer, 2007).
- Totipotent stem cells: these cells are the result of the first divisions after the fusion between sperm and egg. They are responsible for generating an entire organism.
- Pluripotent stem cells: these cells are directly derived from totipotent stem cells, and are able to differentiate into nearly all types of cells; however, they can only be found in embryos.
- Multipotent stem cells: these cells can differentiate into some types of cells, as long as they belong to a related family.
- Oligoptent stem cells: these cells can only differentiate into a few types of cells.
Stem cells’ potential ability to differentiate themselves determine their range of treatment of diseases. This is why pluripotent embryonic stem cells are considered to have the most potential to treat diseases; however, there is a lot controversy surrounding the use of embryos for stem cell research and the practice is illegal in most countries. This is one of the main reasons why storing stem cells from teeth shows more potential.
Multipotent Stem Cells
Multipotent stem cells from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood are currently used to treat some diseases, such as leukemia and lymphoma. Other potential treatments may be available in the future for conditions like type 1 diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular injuries.
Milk teeth stem cells are also multipotent, which means their ability to differentiate is limited; however they could still be used for generating a wide range of cellular tissues like cartilage for the treatment of arthritis, adipocytes, skeletal muscle cells, bone cells, tendons, cardiac tissue and even neural cells for the treatment of brain injuries (Miura, et. al., 2003).
Advantages of Storing Milk Teeth Stem Cells
Apart from the wide range of diseases and injuries that could be treated by storing milk teeth stem cells, this type of biological material is more convenient than umbilical cord blood for a couple of reasons. First of all, umbilical cord blood has to be collected almost immediately after birth, while teeth stem cells can be collected every time a child’s tooth falls out. This means that parents have more time to make a decision whether to send their child’s biological sample to a stem cell bank or not.
On the other hand, there is the potential to collect more stem cells from babies' milk teeth. This could prove to be a big advantage considering the relatively high cost of investing in a stem cell bank, which could amount to $1,500 for a registration fee plus an annual fee of around $150 (The Independent, 2009).
BioEden, a Texas based company, has stem cell processing laboratories and has a bank dedicated to storing stem cells from milk teeth. It might be too soon to know whether stem cell research will successfully treat the wide range of diseases and conditions on which clinical trials are currently being undertaken. For people who can afford it, however, collecting and storing stem cells from their children's milk teeth seems to be a valuable life-insurance decision.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for educational purposes only and should not be used for diagnosis or to guide treatment without the opinion of a health professional. Any reader who is concerned about his or her health should contact a doctor for advice.
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References
Scholer, H., 2007. "The Potential of Stem Cells: An Inventory," Human Biotechnology as Social Challenge. Ashgate Publishing, p.28.
Miura, M., Gronthos, S., Zhao, M., Lu, B., Fisher, L., Robey, P., 2003. "SHED: Stem Cells from Human Exfoliated Deciduous Teeth," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 100, No. 10: 5807-5812.
The Independent, 25 August, 2009., "Milk Teeth – Cure All or Fairytale?," accessed August 9, 2010.
Andres Hernandez - Andres Hernandez-Rodriguez is a chemical engineer, born in Mexico City in 1979. He worked for a chemical products company as a Research ...
